WASHINGTON – A debate over the use of force in Lafayette Square on Monday is increasingly centering on whether police agencies deployed tear gas in their effort to remove peaceful protesters from the park.
Government agencies and protesters calling attention to the death of George Floyd are at odds over whether chemical irritants deployed near the White House this week were "tear gas," or something else. And President Donald Trump is using the debate to slam the media as unfairly portraying the controversial incident.
At issue is the decision Monday to clear protesters from Lafayette Square, a historic park, so that Trump could stroll from the White House to St. John's Church, and pose for photos with senior aides. Critics say the move, made before the city's curfew, resulted in lawful protesters being dispersed so the president could take part in a "photo op."
Trump's supporters and one of the law enforcement agencies involved said that the clearing was justified and that the protesters were "violent."
But much of that underlying debate has been lost in the argument over tear gas.
Here is what to know about how officers cleared Trump's path, including the dispute over tear gas.
What the feds said happened
The U.S. Park Police, one of the law enforcement agencies involved with clearing the park on Monday, denied using tear gas. But the agency acknowledged using "pepper balls," another chemical irritant.
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What is a pepper ball?
A pepper ball is a projectile that contains chemicals, like pepper spray, that would irritate the eyes and lungs. Such a combination with smoke canisters would create clouds of a chemical irritant that would cause tearing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that "tear gas" and "riot control agents" are terms that can be used interchangeably. On its website, the agency also states that "pepper spray" is a "riot control agent."
"Riot control agents (sometimes referred to as 'tear gas') are chemical compounds that temporarily make people unable to function by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin," the CDC's website reads, mentioning pepper spray specifically.
Others say there is a distinction between the two terms, with tear gas relying on a man-made chemical agent and pepper spray using a natural agent. Both forms of irritants can causing tearing and coughing.
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What people on the scene saw
Trump's campaign is using the incident to suggest the media overstated what happened on Monday and is demanding corrections from outlets that used the words "tear gas" in coverage. USA TODAY was among several outlets that used the term.
“It’s said that a lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on. This tear gas lie is proof of that," Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said in a statement. "For nearly an entire day, the whole of the press corps frantically reported the ‘news’ of a tear gas attack on ‘peaceful’ protestors in Lafayette Park, with no evidence to support such claims."
Journalists on the scene and protesters reported seeing chemical irritants deployed and said they experienced symptoms such as coughing and watering eyes as authorities sought to move the protesters back. They also dismissed the claim the protesters were being violent at the time of their forceful removal.
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Alex Marquardt of CNN said, "We didn’t see projectiles thrown at police. Certainly no bricks or “caustic liquids.” Sunday there was a lot thrown and they didn’t react like that. Park Police fired canisters of smoke w/ an irritant that caused severe coughing/ choking + pepper spray rounds + flash bangs."
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What photo and video evidence showed
Nathan Baca, a reporter for D.C affiliate WUSA9 picked up a canister used on Monday. It was not a smoke canister but launched “OC” gas which is also identified as a riot agent. OC gas is a form of pepper spray.
One protester, Lindsay Duede, wrote on Twitter that, "The police and national guard started chasing us away from Lafayette Square and the White House With explosions, fireworks, and gas. 30 minute before curfew."
Rev. Virginia Gerbasi, the assistant rector at St. John's Church, in a viral post described a peaceful afternoon until the events turned.
"They started using tear gas and folks were running at us for eyewashes or water or wet paper towels. At this point, Julia, one of our seminarians for next year (who is a trauma nurse) and I looked at each other in disbelief," she wrote. "I was coughing, her eyes were watering, and we were trying to help people as the police – in full riot gear – drove people toward us."
An unedited Reuters video taken of nearly the entire scene shows no violent instances or exchanges from protesters that the USPP describe.
There also has been no direct evidence that protesters were hiding weapons like glass bottles, bats, and metal poles, as the USPP claimed in their the statement.
The mayor of the nation's capital, Muriel Bowser, called it "shameful" that federal police forcefully removed the peaceful protesters before the curfew, contradicting the USPP's claim.
Trump's event at the church
Trump's event at the fire-damaged church, which critics described as a "photo op," drew swift condemnation from top church officials, Democrats, some of his GOP colleagues.
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The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington excoriated Trump for his visit to St. John's Church. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde told CNN, "Let me be clear: The president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches of my diocese without permission as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our churches stand for."
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Additionally, the USPP wasn't the only law enforcement in the area. The agency said in its statement that "other assisting law enforcement partners" didn't use tear gas. The National Guard and Secret Service, among others, took part on Monday in clearing the protestors and were present around the District.
Attorney General William Barr ordered protesters to be cleared from a park near the White House, setting the stage for authorities to break up demonstration ahead of Trump's surprise visit.
In addition to military units, the attorney general referred to a long list of forces that would probably make a return appearance Tuesday night. At least a dozen agencies in all have been thrust into the mix, with more to come.
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Among them: the FBI; the Secret Service; the U.S. Park Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Marshals Service; the U.S. Capitol Police; at least two Department of Homeland Security agencies; the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and "others."
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, David Jackson, Michael Collins, Nicholas Wu, Kevin Johnson.
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