In a series of tweets on Saturday morning, President Donald Trump thanked the United States Secret Service agents who protected the White House as protesters gathered outside the fence.
In his tweets, the president stated that Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser “wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved.” A subsequent statement from the Secret Service, however, suggests that the Metropolitan Police were indeed present.
….got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard – didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020
….good practice.” As you saw last night, they were very cool & very professional. Never let it get out of hand. Thank you! On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved. “Not their job.” Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020
Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe. They let the “protesters” scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard – didn’t know what hit them.
The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. “We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and good practice.”
As you saw last night, they were very cool & very professional. Never let it get out of hand. Thank you! On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved. “Not their job.” Nice!
On Friday evening, protests and riots erupted in cities across the nation in response to the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who died after a Minneapolis police officer used his knee to pin Floyd’s neck to the ground.
The officer in question, Derek Chauvin, was fired and has now been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, as previously reported by The Daily Wire.
While the president’s tweets about the Secret Service have thus far garnered more than 300,000 “likes” and been retweeted over 88,000 times, the response has been decidedly mixed.
Additionally, a statement released by the Secret Service notes that the Metropolitan Police Department were indeed “on the scene.” This appears to contradict the assertion from the president that Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser “wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved.”
Secret Service statement on Pennsylvania Avenue demonstrations: pic.twitter.com/ZaTtG9iCkR
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) May 30, 2020
Bowser herself tweeted: “Our police department in Washington, DC will always protect DC and all who live and visit here. That’s exactly what we did yesterday and last night. There’s no police dept in the nation better prepared to safely support Americans exercising their first amendment rights than ours.”
Bowser continued, castigating the president:
People are tired, sad, and desperate for change. We need leaders who recognize pain and in times of despair can provide us a sense of calm and hope. Instead, what we’ve got in the last two days from the White House is the glorification of violence against American Citizens. To everyone hurting, and doing their part to move this country forward, we will look to ourselves for this leadership and this hope. Our power is in peace and in our voices and ultimately in the ballot box.
Bowser sent a more direct message on her other Twitter account:
While he hides behind his fence afraid/alone, I stand w/ people peacefully exercising their First Amendment Right after the murder of #GeorgeFloyd & hundreds of years of institutional racism
There are no vicious dogs & ominous weapons. There is just a scared man. Afraid/alone…
— Muriel Bowser #StayHomeDC (@MurielBowser) May 30, 2020
I call upon our city and our nation to exercise great restraint even while this President continues to try to divide us. Our power is in peace, in our voices and ultimately at the ballot box in November…
— Muriel Bowser #StayHomeDC (@MurielBowser) May 30, 2020
Bowser concluded her tweet thread by quoting MLK: “It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.”
The Daily Wire reached out to the White House for comment, but have not received a reply as of publication.
The Metropolitan Police Department referred us to a Saturday press conference from Mayor Bowser. During the conference, Police Chief Peter Newsham detailed the protest timeline.
After speaking about the timeline, Newsham spoke about the Metropolitan Police Department presence.
“When the marches ended, a small group of approximately 150 protesters, with some agitators, remained in Lafayette Park, which as you all know is federal jurisdiction for the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police. Some of the agitators were throwing bricks and deploying either mace or pepper spray,” Newsham stated. “We established unified command with the U.S. Park Police and the U.S. Secret Service on-site, which we do on multiple occasions when we have these instances of protest in our city.”
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