Whistleblower contradicts park police on violent clearing of Lafayette Square
Friday, September 18, 2020
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Lafayette Square, near the White House, was the site of protests against the murder of George Floyd | Ted Eytan, Flickr
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Back in June, federal forces violently cleared protesters from Lafayette Square shortly before a Trump administration photo op in the same location near the White House. The federal forces included the Park Police, a unit of the National Park Service under the Interior Department. Law enforcement and military officers have been under investigation since the event in which they deployed tear gas, stun grenades, and physical force.
A new account from the senior-most D.C. National Guard officer on the ground, who served as a liaison to the U.S. Park Police, contradicts Park Police and Trump administration claims that protesters were violent, that tear gas was never used, and that demonstrators were given ample warning to disperse.
The officer, who provided his account as a whistleblower, also revealed that hours before law enforcement cleared protestors, they began to stockpile ammunition and seek a device that could emit deafening sounds (a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD), as well as a 'heat ray' device that could make anyone within range feel as if their skin was on fire. However, neither device was acquired.
The U.S. Park Police Chief has testified that protestors were given warnings to disperse via an LRAD—but the new account reveals that no such device was present. The 'heat ray' crowd control technology that officials attempted to acquire has been deemed too unpredictable for use in war zones, and was shelved in the early 2000s amid concerns about its effectiveness, safety, and ethics of its use on humans.
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