Yesterday, after a weekend of protests against police brutality, President Trump walked from the White House to nearby St. John’s Church for a photo op. We took a closer look at the force used to clear protesters from that spot, and who was involved. nytimes.com/2020/06/02/us/…
The protesters, who had gathered near Lafayette Park and St John’s Church, appear peaceful. They chant George Floyd’s name.
The U.S. Army Military Police, the Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police, some mounted, are lined up, blocking H Street near St. John’s Church. Around 6:17PM, the various agencies begin to move on the protesters. A chemical agent is fired at them.
Around 6:30PM, the clearance picks up. Officers from the Arlington County Police Department charge protesters with shields and batons to push them away from St. John’s Church.
An Arlington County Board member tweeted last night that ACPD had been pulled out of D.C., and that she was appalled that the department had been “abused to endanger their [the officers’] and others safety for a photo op.”
In a video that’s now gone viral, an officer charges an Australian news crew and slams his shield into the abdomen of the cameraman. Arlington scanner traffic from 6:36:15PM: "Leave the camera crew alone. Leave the camera crew alone."
The officer involved in that incident is a U.S. Park Police officer. We also identified the U.S. Park Police SWAT on the scene during the clearance operation. They appear to be armed with Stinger CS Rubber Ball Grenades. 
Police in riot gear continue to push protesters west down H Street, away from the church. One person told me he was hit on his right shoulder, on the side of his head, and again on his arm from behind as he ran away.
Minutes later, Donald Trump walks through almost that exact same spot, past a wall covered in fresh “BLM” and “Fuck Trump” graffiti. At St. John’s Church, he makes no pretense of any purpose other than posing for photos.
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington has since said she was “outraged” over the use of one of her churches as a political backdrop to boast of squelching protests against racism.
Later that night, at least two military helicopters — a Black Hawk and a Lakota, an unarmed medical evacuation helicopter — drop to rooftop level, with search lights aimed at the crowd. Tree limbs snap, nearly hitting several people.
The Lakota is operated by the Washington D.C. National Guard and took off from Davison Army Airfield at 9:38PM, publicly available flight data shows. Our colleague @KannoYoungs filmed it hovering low above protestors near Judiciary Square just twenty minutes later.
The maneuver is a known show of force, and the District of Columbia National Guard has since announced “an investigation into the actions of [its] rotary aviation assets” last night.
Read the full story of last night here: nytimes.com/2020/06/02/us/…. With @trbrtc, @bottidavid, @whitney_hurst, and many of our colleagues in D.C. Thanks also to @robinnyc7, @anieldaniel, and @jason_paladino.
