The U.S. Secret Service admitted that one of its agents used pepper spray as law enforcement officials tried to clear protesters out of the area outside the White House.
The agency made the admission on Saturday after controversy emerged about whether officers used tear gas to move the protesters out of Lafayette Park to make way for President Trump to walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been set on fire a day before.
“After further review, the U.S. Secret Service has determined that an agency employee used pepper spray on June 1st, during efforts to secure the area near Lafayette Park,” the Secret Service said in a statement. “The employee utilized oleoresin capsicum spray, or pepper spray, in response to an assaultive individual.”
Secret Service Statement: pic.twitter.com/hsocyFntAl
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) June 13, 2020
Law enforcement agencies denied reports that their officers used tear gas.
Park Police acting chief Gregory Monahan said, “No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park” and added that “protesters became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls.”
The White House and Attorney General William Barr defended law enforcement’s tactics.
“Well, it wasn’t tear gas, I would note,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during the White House briefing on June 3. “What they used was a way to target those who were being violent. They used the minimal force they could to ensure that that situation was safe to ensure St. John’s Church would not burn a second night in a row and to ensure no officers were injured in the manner that I listed off that several officers have been injured and shot at in the course of these riots.”
