White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday that President Donald Trump’s administration regrets nothing about police using violent force to clear peaceful anti-racism protesters outside the White House last week.
“There’s no regrets on the part of this White House because, look, I’d note that many of those decisions were not made here within the White House,” she said, pointing to Attorney General William Barr as the one who called for law enforcement to enclose on the perimeter of the protest.
McEnany’s defense comes a week after various law enforcement agencies cleared protesters demanding an end to police brutality against Black Americans in Lafayette Square, the park outside the White House, 30 minutes before a curfew went into effect. According to reporters and footage from the protest, police used tear gas, pepper spray, smoke canisters, stun grenades and rubber bullets to clear the largely peaceful crowd ― though Trump’s administration specifically denies the use of tear gas. Continue reading.