After a weekend filled with demonstrations, looting and burning, which led to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser implementing a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, peaceful protestors chanted, marched, distributed water and snacks and presented art in the name of antiracism and police reform.
However, the peaceful protest turned violent about 25 minutes before the Mayor’s curfew, when police forced protestors to leave so President Donald Trump could step outside for a photo opportunity.
Prior to the “Presidential Pose,” which took place outside St. John’s Episcopal Church Lafayette Square, a place that suffered mild fire damage after Sunday’s demonstrations, thousands of people gathered near the White House.
However those peaceful protestors were alarmed when around 6:35 the President decided he would take a walk to St. John’s Lafayette Square without any warning to District of Columbia leadership.
A full 25 minutes before the curfew [and without] provocation, federal police used munitions on peaceful protestors in front of the White House, an act that will make the job of D.C. Police Department officers more difficult.
