Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church participant Donald Trump
12:00 p.m.: Secret Service tells a fencing contractor to proceed with installing fencing at Lafayette Park, according to the Interior OIG report.
4:50 p.m.: Secret Service informs the USPP incident commander that Trump would make an unscheduled visit to Lafayette Park later in the day, according to the USPP acting chief.
5:05 p.m.: A convoy of nine trucks carrying uniformed National Guard troops enters the White House complex.
5:30 p.m.: By this time, three trucks holding fencing material have arrived at the area.
5:50 p.m.: The Park Police incident commander informs the Park Police Horse Mounted Patrol unit, the Park Police civil disturbance unit, and the Arlington County Police Department civil disturbance unit to prepare to deploy to H Street.
6:04 p.m.: White House communications office notifies reporters about a "6:15 news briefing in the Rose Garden". USPP incident commander drafts park dispersal warning.
6:08 p.m.: Law enforcement and military personnel begin massing before protesters at the north side of Lafayette Park. They include members of the Uniformed Secret Service, D.C. National Guard, and Park Police.
6:08 p.m.: Attorney General William Barr is seen in Lafayette Park reviewing protesters and law enforcement.
6:10 p.m.: Around this time, Barr speaks to the Park Police operations commander. According to the Interior Inspector General report, the Park Police operations commander stated that Barr "asked him why the crowd was still on H Street and said he thought they would be gone by that point", to which the Park Police operations commander said that Park Police "were getting into position to move the crowd". Barr proceeds to ask: "Are these people still going to be here when POTUS comes out?" The Park Police operations commander said he replied: "Are you freaking kidding me?"
6:12 p.m.: The Metropolitan Police Department assistant chief asks the Park Police incident commander to delay the clearing operation until 7 p.m., when the curfew would take effect but the Park Police incident commander refused.
6:15 p.m.: General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appears in the park behind the police barricade.
6:16 p.m.: Secret Service, contrary to the operational plan, begin moving into H Street prior to any dispersal orders being given to the crowd. The early deployment increased tension between law enforcement and the protestors. They meet significant resistance and eggs and bottles were thrown. They use pepper spray in response. Some security personnel kneel to put on gas masks. This is misinterpreted by some protesters as a sign of solidarity; they start cheering. A D.C. police channel announces that "CS gas", a type of tear gas, may soon be deployed.
6:17 p.m.: Before Park Police initiated their plan to warn protesters to disperse, agents of the Secret Service advance on protesters at the northeast corner of the park at H Street and Madison Place. After briefly occupying the intersection, they fall back. The Secret Service officer responsible for the early deployment apologized but offered no explanation for the change in timing.
6:21 p.m.: A person on a law enforcement communications channel says, "John, can you just confirm when you have all the grenadiers and shields with you."
6:22 p.m.: Barr and Milley leave Lafayette Square.
6:23 p.m.: Park Police make the first of three announcements directing protesters to leave. The announcement is largely unintelligible even to protesters at the front of the crowd. Two additional announcements were made at 6:26 p.m. and 6:28 p.m. About 1 minute before the final warning was completed, Park Police units deployed contrary to the operational plan. Park Police commanders could not identify who gave the order to deploy.
6:26 p.m.: D.C. Police radio announces that police action is about to take place and that D.C. Police are to hold their positions on 16th Street.
6:28 p.m.: Park Police notify Arlington County Police via radio that "level one's been activated", referring to a policing tactic to quell violent unrest by charging crowds to disperse them without making physical contact. Police and National Guard military police, wearing gas masks and riot gear advance to the barricade on the North side of Lafayette Park. At least one protester throws water bottles and is reprimanded by another protester. The Secret Service and Park Police begin to push protesters at the northeast corner of the park up Vermont Avenue as Park Police mounted on horses appear behind them.
6:32 p.m.: Arlington Police radio says, "Moving forward to the intersection, forward to the intersection. Go, go, go," in reference to the largest group of protesters on H Street. The protesters retreat, evacuating H Street between 16th Street NW and Vermont Ave in front of the advancing security forces. Police with riot shields enter the patio of St. John's Episcopal Church and physically push out a group of clergy and volunteers, leaving the police in control of the front of St John's Church.
6:34 p.m.: Arlington Police radio says, "We're gonna take 16th Street on this next surge."
6:35 p.m.: Park police on H Street rush protesters at the intersection of H Street and 16th Street. A chemical grenade is rolled at the feet of protesters.
6:36 p.m.: Park police push protesters west on H Street past 16th Street. Video records several members of the Park Police SWAT team and the Bureau of Prisons Special Operations Response Team firing pepper balls at the fleeing crowd. The Washington Post reported that a member of the Park Police SWAT team threw a stingball grenade containing rubber pellets into the crowd.
6:39 p.m.: A Park Police SWAT officer rolls a white smoke grenade into the crowd.
6:42 p.m.: Arlington Police radio says, "We are going all the way to I Street. Copy, I Street." A line of mounted Park Police officers moves forward to disperse the crowd.
6:43 p.m.: Trump begins speaking in the White House Rose Garden.
About 6:45 p.m.: Protesters are forced south along 17th Street. Several CS gas grenades are deployed by the Metropolitan Police Department on 17th Street between H Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
6:50 p.m.: Trump concludes his speech, saying, "Thank you very much, and now I am going to pay my respects to a very, very special place."
7:00 p.m.: The curfew previously announced by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser goes into effect.
7:01 p.m.: The president begins walking with a group of White House officials and a security detail from the White House complex to St. John's Church.
7:06 p.m.: Trump arrives at the Parish House of St. John's Church, where he spends several minutes posing for photographs on the church grounds, first alone and then with his entourage.
7:11 p.m.: Trump and his entourage leave the church grounds.
7:18 p.m.: Trump and his entourage arrive back at the White House.
7:30 p.m.: Construction begins on new eight-foot (2.4 m) black fence around Lafayette Park and along 17th Street at Pennsylvania Avenue restricting public access.
10:00 p.m.: Helicopters disperse crowds that had reformed in violation of the curfew.Participants
Flanked by Secret Service agents, the president walked with a group of senior officials and advisors from the White House complex to St. John's Church. The group included:Appearance at the church
Following a five-minute walk from the White House, Trump arrived at St. John's Church at 7:06 p.m. His daughter, Ivanka, handed him a Bible which she carried there in her handbag. Trump turned the Bible over, and held it aloft as he stood in front of Ashburton House beside the church noticeboard. A reporter asked "Is that your Bible?" and Trump replied, "It's a Bible." Trump made no formal remarks. When asked if he had any thoughts, Trump said, "We have a great country. That's my thoughts. Greatest country in the world. We will make it greater. We will make it even greater. It won't take long. It's not going to take long. You see what's going on. You see it coming back."Trump first posed alone with the Bible, while standing in front of the church's noticeboard, which stated: "All are welcome". He then spent "several minutes posing for photos alone and with other officials", including Barr, O'Brien, Meadows, Esper, and McEnany. The New York Times reported that Trump "made no pretense of any intent other than posing for photographs—he held up the Bible carried by his daughter, then gathered a few top advisers next to him in a line". The entire group then departed the church grounds at 7:11 p.m. and returned to the White House at 7:18 p.m.Trump did not enter the church during this appearance. It was his third visit to the church since being elected president. There were viral social media claims and news reports that Trump had held the Bible upside down during the photo op, but these were untrue. However, the Bible version Trump held up was a Revised Standard Version, which is not endorsed by evangelical Christians (a large portion of Trump's political base), due in part to translations like that in Isaiah 7:14, where Hebrew: עַלְמָה, romanized: almah is rendered "young woman" rather than "virgin" — which to evangelicals questions the prophecy of the miracle of Incarnation.Current and former military officers and officials
Esper
Trump was accompanied on his walk and photo opportunity by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, prompting criticism of both men. An anonymous senior defense official said neither had intended to participate, 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. At a news conference on June 3, Esper revised his account, saying, "I did know that we were going to the church; I was not aware that a photo op was happening."Esper did not directly answer a question from the press about whether he regretted participating in the photo-op, saying that he tried to stay apolitical but "Sometimes, I'm successful, and sometimes I'm not as successful." Esper also said he was not aware of the plan to clear the park and criticized the use of a helicopter. On June 3, Esper sought to send home a small portion of the 1,600 active-duty troops called to Washington, but during an angry meeting, Trump ordered Esper not to do so. The following day, amid a contentious dispute between the Pentagon and the White House, some National Guard troops began to withdraw.Regarding the use of active-duty military, Esper said "The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act." In a memoir published in 2022, Esper wrote of Lafayette Square, "the tactics employed seemed excessive and unnecessary."Esper directed the Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy to lead an after action review of the National Guard's role in domestic law enforcement. The review was expected to be completed by July 30, 2020.