During his presidential campaign, Trump declared himself "the law and order candidate",[23] alluding to a political theme popularized in the late 1960s by George Wallace, Richard Nixon and then-Governor of California Ronald Reagan.

[7] In the book I Alone Can Fix It, Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker say it was the president's daughter Ivanka Trump who came up with the idea that her father should give a "law and order" speech in the Rose Garden, then walk to St. John's Church.

[17] USPP and ACPD officers began clearing the area around 6:28 p.m., a half hour ahead of the previously announced 7:00 p.m. city curfew, prior to completing dispersal warnings to the crowd, and despite specific requests from the D.C. Police Assistant Chief to delay the operation.

[73][84] The group included:[117] Following a five-minute walk from the White House, Trump arrived at St. John's Church at 7:06 p.m.[73][118] His daughter, Ivanka, handed him a Bible which she carried there in her handbag.

[144] The active duty troops stationed in the capital area complemented roughly 5,400 guardsmen from D.C. and 11 other states, including Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.

Thus the fact checkers reported that the difference between pepper spray and traditional tear gas compounds is only semantics, because the practical effect is the same: chemically irritated eyes, throats, and other areas.

The Washington Post reported that "one helicopter buzzed protesters from a height nearly level with three- and four-story buildings in the Chinatown area, ripping tree limbs away [and the] rotor wash hurled glass from broken windows like shrapnel.

The order narrowed the case, dismissing most claims against Trump, Barr, and Gregory T. Monahan (who was at the time of the Lafayette Square incident the acting chief of the Park Police).

[179][180] Friedrich ruled that Trump, Barr, and Monahan, as federal officials, had qualified immunity from civil suits from damages,[180][179] and that Black Lives Matter D.C. (one of the plaintiffs) could not show it was directly injured by the defendants' conduct.

[206] In 2020, Joseph V. Cuffari, the Trump-appointed Department of Homeland Security Inspector General, declined recommendations from DHS career staff and members of Congress to conduct an investigation into the clearing of Lafayette Square.

Because Cuffari blocked the proposed review, it's unclear if a full picture will ever emerge of who was in charge or what happened inside the Secret Service's Joint Operation Center, which normally plays a key coordination role when protestors are cleared from Lafayette Square and its environs.

"[208] Secret Service official Anthony M. Ornato, who had received the unprecedented permission to temporarily take a leave of absence to become a White House political advisor, had reportedly organized the photo-op.

[91] White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared Trump's photo opportunity to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's review of World War II bombing damage in 1941, saying it was "a message of resilience and determination".

"[223] On June 11, Trump continued to praise law enforcement's handling of protesters and anarchists, tweeting, "Our great National Guard Troops who took care of the area around the White House could hardly believe how easy it was.

[citation needed] Barr later distanced himself from the controversial move, saying that earlier on Monday he had ordered the security perimeter extended, and that upon seeing protesters still there in the afternoon he urged "get it done" but did not give the "tactical command" how to do it.

[79] Describing the incident, Rector Gerbasi said, "We were literally driven off of the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades and police in full riot gear ... We were pushed back 20 feet [6 m].

[238][239] Gregory Brewer, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, tweeted, "I am shaken watching protesters in Lafayette Park gassed and cleared so that the President of the United States can do a photo ...

[243] Rabbi Jack Moline, president of the Interfaith Alliance, called the event "one of the most flagrant misuses of religion I have ever seen", which demonstrates Trump's "complete lack of compassion for black Americans and the lethal consequences of racism".

"[252] Following the event, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement, reading in part, "at a time when our country cries out for unification, this President is ripping it apart.

"[256] Terry McAuliffe, who was governor of Virginia when Trump declared that there were "very fine people on both sides" of the 2017 Unite the Right rally, stated, "Charlottesville and the Bible incident are the two biggest moral failures of this president.

[264] An anonymous senior defense official said neither had intended to participate,[48] and in a subsequent interview with NBC, Esper said he believed the walk was to review the troops and was not aware a peaceful protest had just been dispersed.

[274][275] In a statement published in The Atlantic, Mattis wrote that he had witnessed "this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled" and said he never believed U.S. forces "would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside".

"[281] Mick Mulroy, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Trump administration, echoed Dempsey: "Active Army and Marine Corps units are trained to fight our nation's enemies, not their fellow Americans.

"[256] Mike Mullen, a retired Navy admiral and a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, criticized Trump for having "risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces" and urged Americans not to forget "the larger and deeper concerns about institutional racism that have ignited this rage".

"[284] Retired Admiral William McRaven said, "You're not going to use, whether it's the military, or the National Guard, or law enforcement, to clear peaceful American citizens for the president of the United States to do a photo op ...

[287] In a piece in Foreign Policy, retired Marine general and former U.S. envoy John R. Allen wrote that the U.S. under Trump had begun turning illiberal, which "may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment".

[295] Law professor Garrett Epps wrote that "the dispersal of the peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square was a monstrous violation of America's venerable right of assembly" as guaranteed by the Constitution's First Amendment.

"[296] Historian Robert Kagan, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and Washington Post contributing columnist, wrote that General Milley's appearance in the photo—in combat uniform—might "turn out to be the first in a series of pictures in some future history text about the undermining of American democracy".

[297] Princeton University's Eddie Glaude said the photo op represents "the theater of dictatorial power", asserting that "people saw it clearly for what it was, and to conscript the military into that performance made concrete the feeling that not only are we seeing the erosion of democratic norms, but the very institutions of the country are in jeopardy.

[298] In the settlement, the U.S. Park Police agreed to revise its policies to ensure warnings to protesters that they are in violation of the law are clearly audible to the entire crowd, and that demonstrators have adequate time to respond to instructions.