Fake News: Legacy Media Got Lafayette Park Story Wrong

Legacy media pushed a story claiming that police cleared peaceful protesters from the area near Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., during a demonstration in order to let then-President Donald Trump pose for a photo-op. That story has been definitively proven false, reports The Daily Caller.

The Park Police cleared Black Lives Matter protesters in Washington, D.C., from the area between St. John’s Church and Lafayette Park in June 2020. Police used flash-bangs and other non-lethal crowd-control munitions to clear the area. However, a Wednesday report from Interior Department inspector general Mark Greenblatt determined that the Park Police had planned to clear the area before anyone knew Trump’s plans to walk over and that Trump’s presence had nothing to do with the Park Police’s decision to clear the area.

Police had planned to clear the area in advance in order to install extra fencing after the riots that took place May 30 and 31, according to the report. Tear gas was used by Washington, D.C., police, but reportedly not by Park Police.

Still, establishment coverage ran with the narrative that the park had been cleared for a photoshoot. In a June 1 segment, CNN reported that “peaceful protesters” near the White House were “gassed” and “shot with rubber bullets” so that Trump could have a “church photo-op.”

NPR also claimed that the park was cleared so that Trump could take a photo. The outlet ran an article the morning of June 2, 2020, titled: “Peaceful Protesters Tear Gassed To Clear Way For Trump Church Visit.”

The New York Times cited an “official familiar with the events” who said the president’s advisors “hatched a plan” to have him visit the church.