Covering a house committee hearing today in which I feel like I could have been called as a witness: Park Police vs. Protestors in Lafayette Park on June 1st. Follow along here: c-span.org/video/?473458-…
First witness is Kishon McDonald, who works as a mechanic for United Airlines, and served in the Navy. He came to the park to join the peaceful protest. He says he had CS gas training in the Navy. On June 1st he was "attacked with tear gas and flash-bangs."
The second witness, Australian journalist @AmeliaBrace describes a @usparkpolicepio officer going "out of his way" to strike her with a truncheon. (We all saw the video of her camera man getting hit with a riot shield and punched).
@AmeliaBrace @usparkpolicepio Witness #3, back from the "Impeachment" season of Capitol Hill coverage, is @JonathanTurley - who says the government probably had the right to clear the park. Whether they did so by legal means is worthy of further congressional investigation.
@AmeliaBrace @usparkpolicepio @JonathanTurley The final witness is Bishop Budde - who oversees St. John's. She says the Episcopal Church is dedicated to fighting for social and racial justice, and has its own difficult history to contend with: St. John's was built in part with slave labor.
"Nowhere does the Bible condone the use of violence against the innocent, especially those who are standing up for justice," Budde says - in the context of the following Trump photo-op.
GOP's @RepMcClintock plays a video of destruction on DC's streets as a way of explaining police response in Lafayette on June 1st. Starts with toppling of Albert Pike statue and attempt to topple Jackson statue... both happened more than three weeks AFTER Lafayette.
