Attorney General Bill Barr says law enforcement officers were already moving to push back protesters from a park in front of the White Hou...
Attorney General Bill Barr says law enforcement officers were already moving to push back protesters from a park in front of the White House when he arrived there Monday evening, and he says he did not give a command to disperse the crowd, though he supported the decision.
Barr made the claim during an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, despite The White House saying that the attorney general ordered officers to clear Lafayette Square before President Trump's visit to St. John's Church.
Video shared on Twitter also shows Barr speaking with law enforcement officials around 20 minutes before police aggressively pushed back demonstrators.
The episode played out on live television and prompted an outcry from some Republicans and former military leaders, including Gen. Jim Mattis, Trump's first defense secretary.
Administration officials have spent much of the week trying to explain how the situation escalated and why smoke bombs, pepper balls and police on horseback were needed to clear the largely peaceful crowd demonstrating for police reform and an end to systemic racism.
Attorney General Bill Barr says law enforcement officers were already moving to push back protesters from a park in front of the White House before President Trump's photo op at St. John's Church
Administration officials have spent much of the week trying to explain how the situation escalated and why smoke bombs, pepper balls and police on horseback were needed to clear the largely peaceful crowd demonstrating for police reform and an end to systemic racism
The episode played out on live television and prompted an outcry from some Republicans and former military leaders, including Gen. Jim Mattis, Trump's first defense secretary
On Friday, Barr told the AP that both he and U.S. Park Police were in agreement on the need to push back the security perimeter.
He said he attended a meeting around 2 p.m. Monday with several other law enforcement officials, including Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham, where they looked at a map and decided on a dividing line.
Under the plan, the protesters would be moved away from Lafayette Park and federal law enforcement officials and members of the National Guard would maintain the perimeter line, Barr said.
Barr said the plan was supposed to be put into action soon after the meeting, but additional officers and National Guard troops had to be called in because of a high number of officers who had been injured throughout the weekend. It had not yet been implemented when he arrived at the park later in the evening and the crowd had grown much larger than it was in the afternoon, Barr said.
Demonstrators were cleared out of the area before Trump and Barr made their way to St. John's Church
President Donald Trump departs after visiting outside St. John's Church after protesters were cleared out. Walking with Trump are Defense Secretary Mark Esper, from left, Attorney General William Barr, White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows
Still, he said he did not give the officers the orders to proceed - they were already in the process of doing so when he showed up.
'They told me they were about to make the announcement and I think they stretched the announcements over 20 minutes. During the time I was there, I would periodically hear announcements,' Barr said.
'They had the Park Police mounted unit ready, so it was just a matter of execution. So, I didn't just say to them, "Go.'''
Barr said it was a Park Police tactical commander - an official he never spoke to - who gave the order for the law enforcement agencies to move in and clear the protesters.
'I'm not involved in giving tactical commands like that,' he insisted.
'I was frustrated and I was also worried that as the crowd grew, it was going to be harder and harder to do. So my attitude was get it done, but I didn't say, "Go do it."'
Barr insisted there was no connection between the heavy-handed crackdown on the protesters and Trump's walk soon after to St. John's Church. The attorney general said he had learned in the afternoon that Trump wanted to go outside, and said that when he went to the White House in the evening, he learned of the president's intended destination.
Several different groups, including the Secret Service and Park Police, were involved in the pushback on the protesters. Members of the National Guard were present but didn't engage with the protesters, Barr said.
Bill Barr, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany are pictured with the President in Lafayette Square
Barr's claims contradict those made by White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnan, who told reporters it was the attorney general who made the decision to push back the security perimeter outside the White House.
McEnany said that when Barr arrived at Lafayette Park later that day to survey the security situation, he was surprised to see that action had not yet been taken.
Another person familiar with the matter also said earlier this week that Barr told law enforcement to take action to move the perimeter when he arrived in the park.
Trump was widely panned for a 'photo op' outside the church where he held up a Bible
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