DOJ watchdog says Barr as attorney general did not order Lafayette Square cleared for Trump's walk

A new Justice Department inspector general report has found that William Barr, as attorney general, did not personally order protesters cleared from Lafayette Park near the White House during the 2020 racial justice protests so that President Trump could walk to a nearby church damaged in the protests – despite media reports at the time suggesting Barr did.

In May 2020, after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, hundreds of protesters gathered at Lafayette Square in front of the White House each night through June 6. Many law enforcement agencies under the Justice Department – including the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service – sent officers to help patrol the protests, according to The Washington Post.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz said he commissioned the report to examine how the Justice Department responded to the unrest, according to the Washington Post.

A fire was set May 31 in the basement of the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church, across Lafayette Square from the White House. 

The next day, the square was forcibly cleared of hundreds of people so that Trump, carrying a Bible, and several of his top administration officials, could walk to the church, which was also damaged by graffiti.

According to the report, Barr, shortly before the protesters were removed, spoke with a U.S. Park Police captain about the time that the area would be cleared. 

The inspector general's office found the department’s overall efforts in response to the protests "at times to be chaotic and disorganized, and that Barr, in an attempt to demonstrate that law enforcement could handle the civil unrest without active-duty military intervention, pressed DOJ law enforcement components to deploy personnel without sufficient attention to whether those personnel were properly trained or equipped for their mission."