CREW requests records on Secret Service and Park Police’s violent removal of George Floyd protesters

President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr’s reported deployment of the Secret Service and United States Park Police to violently remove protesters calling for justice for George Floyd requires critical investigation. White House footage of Trump’s walk to pose in front of a historic church appears to be a propaganda video or Trump campaign ad, all at the expense of protestors who were violently removed for the production of the video. The public needs to know whether the internal policies of the Secret Service and Park Police were followed, and whether these policies permit the violent dispersal of peaceful protestors.

CREW has requested records from the Secret Service and Park Police on President Donald Trump’s trip to St. John’s Church and agency policies around treatment of peaceful protesters.

The requested records will help clarify the chain of events and whether law enforcement officials, including Secret Service agents, were ordered to violently disperse Americans exercising their First Amendment rights for the President’s publicity purposes. This wouldn’t be the first time Trump attempted to capitalize off of a crisis for his own political gain. Earlier this year, Trump used a coronavirus press briefing to showcase a self-aggrandizing video that appears to violate propaganda laws. Now, Trump appears to be infringing on the public’s right to protest to serve his own political agenda.