A U.S. fight veteran and National Guard officer was “deeply disturbed” as he witnessed federal cops utilize ” excessive force” to violently clear serene protesters near the White House to give way for President Donald Trump to position for pictures outside a church last month, he will affirm Tuesday.
U.S. Park Authorities began violently clearing protesters from Lafayette Square on June 1 without evident justification or sufficient warning soon after Attorney General William Barr consulted with police leaders, according to written testimony by D.C. National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco. He’s set up to present the statement at a hearing examining the event prior to the Home Committee on Natural Resources
A brief time after the protesters were driven off, Trump strode throughout the square surrounded by a White Home entourage to posture in front of the historical St. John’s Episcopal Church while holding a Bible
” They were not serene protesters
DeMarco, a West Point graduage who served in Iraq, composes that the “events I saw … were deeply disturbing to me, and to fellow National Guardsmen.”
From “my observation, those demonstrators– our fellow American people– were taken part in the peaceful expression of their First Modification rights. They were subjected to an unprovoked escalation and excessive usage of force.”
DeMarco said he stepped forward with his deep issues to fulfill the “oath I swore as a military officer to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
DeMarco and a team of Guardsmen were there June 1 to back up the Park P