Trump says ‘I am your law and order president’

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President Donald Trump declared himself the ‘law and order president’ Monday night as law enforcement officials used rubber bullets, tear gas and officers on horse back to clear out protesters so Trump could walk to an historic church across from the White House for a photo-op.

‘I am your president of law and order,’ Trump said in the Rose Garden as the split screen on televisions across the nation showed peaceful protesters being fired upon and cleared out 30 minutes before Washington D.C.’s curfew went into affect. 

‘The biggest victims of the rioting are peace loving citizens in our poorest communities, and as they are president, I will fight to keep them safe. I will fight to protect you. I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters,’ Trump said in brief remarks. As he spoke helicopters circled over head and booming sounds could be heard. 

Armed offices on horse back cleared protesters from around the White House so the president could walk across Lafayette Park to pay his respects to St. John’s Church, the historic chapel across from the White House known as the president’s church. It suffered damage in Sunday night’s protest.

‘If the city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residence, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,’ the president said. 

Immediately after he finished his remarks, he left the White House to walk to the church that was threatened with fire Sunday night. He walked across the cleared out park surrounded by aides and Secret Service agents.

Before the president spoke in the Rose Garden, Attorney General Bill Barr spoke to law enforcement officials in the park and then left to return to the White House. Shortly after Barr left, the protesters were cleared, shouting ‘don’t shoot’ as officials closed in on horseback and on foot. Tear gas poured down on them and rubber bullets were shot into the crowd.

With the path cleared, Trump took a short walk on a beautiful D.C. night to stand in front of the church, holding up a bible. ‘I am going to pay my respects to a very, very special place,’ he said before his walk over. 

He was joined by Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Barr, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Defense Secretary  Mark Esper, and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany – all of whom joined him in front of the church to get their picture taken.

Trump was followed by a huge Secret Service entourage and some of the most prominent members of his administration, including daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Others in the cavalcade, which picked its way past ‘FTP’ graffiti and discarded protesters’ belongings, included Pat Cipollone, the White House Counsel who led Trump’s impeachment defense on the floor of the Senate; Dan Scavino, his golf-caddy turned director of social media; adviser Hope Hicks; and Alyssa Farah, the White House director of communications.

Trump was also accompanied by Army General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was in combat uniform, not the dress uniform usually expected of senior officers around the president.

Trump spent less than five minutes in front of the church, long enough to declare ‘greatest country in the world.’ And we’re going to keep it safe.’

A fire burned in the basement of St. John’s Church Sunday night but the chapel was not affected. The church was boarded up during the protests.

The appearance at St. John’s marked the first time Trump has publicly visited a church since June of last year.   

During his remarks in the Rose Garden, Trump made reference to the 1807 Insurrection Act and said he would deploy the U.S. military even in the cases where governors don’t seek to call out the National Guard – although he didn’t name it explicitly.

He spoke after truckloads full of D.C. Guard members were spotted south of the White House. The military was also sending troops from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and possibly Fort Belvoir in Virginia, NBC News reported.

‘If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,’ Trump said in the Rose Garden, where bangs and tear gas canister firings punctuated his remarks.

‘I am mobilizing all federal and local resources, civilian and military, to protect the rights of law abiding Americans,’ Trump said.

In a state, a governor can activate National Guard troops in response to an emergency. In the case of Washington, D.C., the Secretary of the Army has the authority to dispatch forces – as happened both Sunday to help impose an 11pm curfew and on Monday, when the mayor moved it up to 7 pm after a night of more protests, property destruction, and confrontations between police and protesters.

The federal Posse Comitatus statute prohibits the use of the Army and the Navy as a force inside the country.

The White House says Trump can also call on another authority – the 1807 Insurrection act, which was amended in 2006 and allows the president to use the guard to ‘suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such insurrection, violation, combination, or conspiracy results in a condition’ that ‘hinders the execution of the laws of a State.’

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said it was one of the authorities being looked at.

Trump, after walking past graffiti-strewn maintenance building and standing in front of St. John’s, didn’t respond to shouted questions about whether the nation was facing an insurgency, or whether he cleared out Lafayette Park for a photo-op.

He warned residents of Washington D.C. he would take the tough action after they had surrounded the White House every evening since Friday night. On Friday night, the first night the protests grew in size, Secret Service agents rushed Trump into the White House bunker and held him there for several minutes as a safety precaution.

‘What happened in the city last night was a total disgrace. As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property. We are putting everybody on warning on a 7:00 curfew that will be strictly enforced,’ Trump said in his Rose Garden remarks.  

Trump attempted to regain control of the situation with his strongly-worded remarks, vow to use force to end the protests and his walk to the church for a photo-op. Scenes from protesters around the country have filled American TV screens in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes. Floyd’s death was ruled a homicide and the officer, Derek Chauvin, was charged with his murder.

Both Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker and New York’s Andrew Cuomo immediately rejected Trump’s demand, both telling CNN they would not agree to the deployment of active-duty troops in their states, which include New York City and Chicago. Cuomo also slammed Trump for having protesters – who he said were ‘young, and mostly white’ – out of his path to ‘pose with a Bible’ and Prtizker accused him of making the country more dangerous. ‘He has got to go,’ the Illinois governor said. 

Cuomo said: ‘I was shocked at what they did. I was shocked to see the force used to move protesters who could not have been more peaceful. Calling out the American military for a photo opportunity. It was shameful. Shameful.’

Trump gave governors an early warning of what he had planned, telling them earlier in the day, during a video conference from the Situation Room, that they are ‘weak’ and need to ‘dominate’ cities ravaged by riots or they will look like ‘jerks.’ 

‘You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate,’ audio of the call revealed.

‘The only time it’s successful is when you’re weak and most of you are weak,’ he added, CNN reported, claiming that if governors and local leaders were more tough on rioters, there would be less destruction of their major cities.

‘You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again,’ Trump said during the 55-minute call. ‘We’re doing it in Washington, D.C. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before.’ 

‘You’re making a mistake because you’re making yourselves look like fools,’ he continued later in the call, claiming that they need to activate more National Guard support as a show of force on city streets.’And some have done a great job. But a lot of you, it’s not – it’s not a great day for our country.’

The president also threatened to deploy the 101st Airborne Division of the Army to provide ‘backup’ to cities ravaged by the riots.

The president made this message by endorsing a statement made by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton: ‘100% Correct. Thank you Tom!’

Cotton wrote on Monday, ‘Anarchy, rioting, and looting needs to end tonight.’

‘If local law enforcement is overwhelmed and needs backup, let’s see how tough these Antifa terrorists are when they’re facing off with the 101st Airborne Division,’ he continued in the tweet. ‘We need to have zero tolerance for this destruction.’

Trump has pushed for governors to activate the National Guard in there states and has not yet formally addressed the nation since the unrest began.

He did say during his call with governors Monday that he is putting Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley ‘in charge.’ 

The call happened after a weekend in which:

• It emerged Trump was whisked to a bunker while protesters descended on the White House Friday night, throwing Molotov cocktails and injuring 50 Secret Service agents
• A protester was reportedly shot dead in Louisville, Kentucky Sunday night
• Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daughter was arrested at a protest in New York City Sunday 
• An armed vigilante in California pulled a gun on rioters who tried to hold up a bank 
• Across the country, peaceful protesters tried to stop violent opportunists from ransacking stores 
• In Louisville, protesters formed a human chain to protect one cop who became separated from his unit and outnumbered by crowds 
• Other cops dropped to their knees in shows of solidarity with protesters and some abandoned riot gear to march with crowds peacefully 
• In Minneapolis, a tanker plowed through crowds of protesters on a highway; he was then pulled from the rig and beaten by crowds 

The president did not clarify what he meant during his rant to the state leaders, specifically if he was planning to deploy the military to quell protests – and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not clear up the comments during a press briefing Monday afternoon.

‘I’m not going to get ahead of any actions,’ McEnany told reporters in the James S. Brady Briefing Room.

‘Our streets are dominated with a police force and a national guard presence,’ she continued, claiming that police lines are overwhelmed by the rioters.

‘When those lines are overwhelmed, law enforcement gets on the defense,’ she said. ‘So what the president has said, is that he wants to dominate the streets with National Guard, with a police presence.’  

McEnany noted that Milley said during the call, which he was a part of, that a National Guard presence helps to de-escalate situations like the ones popping up all over the country.

She did not clarify if putting Milley in charge means that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would be completely overseeing a domestic issue.  

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a frequent target of the president in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, responded to the meeting in a statement following where she claimed Trump said the governors would be ‘overridden.’

‘I joined a call with my fellow governors and the current president that was deeply disturbing,’ she said. ‘Instead of offering support or leadership to bring down the temperature at protests, President Trump told governors to ‘put it down’ or we would be ‘overridden.’

A person listening in on the call told CBS News that the president’s message and tone was ‘unhinged.’ Illinois’ governor J.B. Pritzker hit back at him during the call, telling Trump his own rhetoric was fueling the violence. 

In the call, Trump specifically called out Minnesota, where the riots originated after Goerge Floyd, a black man, was killed by a white police officer there last week.

‘What happened in the state of Minnesota, they were a laughing stock all over the world,’ Trump said in the call.

‘They took over the police department, the police were running down the street, sirens blazing, the rest of them running. It was on camera,’ he said, referencing rioters who torched the Minneapolis police station on Friday.

‘They’ll probably have to build a new one,’ Trump said. ‘But I’ve never seen anything like it and the whole world was laughing.’

He then praised his own work by talking with Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on activating the National Guard in the state to help the Twin Cities mitigate violent demonstrators, claiming Walz acted on his suggestion. 

‘Once you cool down and you dominated, you took the worst place and you made it – they didn’t even come there last night because there was so much less, because you dominated,’ he lauded.

But right after the president’s call with governors, Walz held a press conference where he said he would be working to demobilize the National Guard, which he had just activated a few days before upon the encouragement of the president. 

He said the state is working on a ‘transition of our National Guard troops back to their homes and their jobs.’

‘They take time out of their jobs, and many of them will be going back – some of them working as news reporters, some of them working as camera operators, some of them working as teachers. That will begin to happen,’ Walz said.

On the call, Illinois governor J.B. Priztker bluntly told Trump his rhetoric was not helping.

‘It’s been inflammatory, and it’s not OK for that officer to choke George Floyd to death but we have to call for calm. We have to have police reform called for. We’ve called out our National Guard and our State Police, but the rhetoric that’s coming out of the White House is making it worse,’ Pritzker said, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Trump hit back saying: ‘OK, well thank you very much, J.B. I don’t like your rhetoric very much either because I watched your response to coronavirus, and I don’t like your rhetoric either. I think you could have done a much better job, frankly.’   

Trump also unloaded on New York, claiming that ‘New York’s finest’ were not being ‘allowed to do their jobs.’

‘New York is going to have to toughen up,’ he said.

‘You have the largest police force in the country, 40,000 people I understand but what’s going on in New York is terrible, terrible, of all the places.’ 

Attorney General Bill Barr, who was also on the call, told governors that a joint terrorist task force would be used to track the agitators.

He also told local officials, lawmakers and enforcement to control what is going on in cities rather than react to crowds – and he urged them to ‘go after troublemakers.’

The comments from Trump on increasing arrests come as more than 4,100 people were taken into custody across the country over the weekend in the at least 145 cities participating in protests, demonstrations and riots. 

President Trump held talks with his Barr, law enforcement officials and state leaders as violence continues to escalate in the sixth day of protests in cities all over the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Barr visited the White House for an Oval Office meeting with the president Monday morning, and shortly after, Trump hosted a video conference with governors, law enforcement leaders and national security officials in the Situation Room to discuss ways to keep American communities safe.

Cities across the nation appear war-torn after rioters set establishments and cars in the middle of streets on fire, smashed windows of local stores and looted their shelves and clashed with law enforcement. 

Trump had to flee to the White House bunker to shelter in place for a short period of time on Friday, it was revealed on Sunday, as protesters surrounding the White House. 

Many governors activated the National Guard in their states and sent them to cities being affected by protests turned to violence.  

Governors and mayors also went public, both on their own mediums and in interviews with networks, claiming that while they support rioters’ right to gather, they are pleading for an end to the violence and destruction in their cities as a means of protesting. 

The president did not appear publicly on Sunday to address the rioters, who have engulfed the perimeter of the White House as well taken to the streets in several other U.S. cities, he did weigh in on Twitter, claiming that governors need to activate the National Guard in their states. 

He lauded the improvements over the weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota by the National Guard’s presence – and while the demonstrations have appeared less violent since they started at the end of last week, police in the city said they discovered Sunday caches of homemade firebombs around the city. 

The president has told aides that he’s concerned about his safety as the White House went dark after it turned off its lights in a rare move Sunday night while protests and riots continued a few hundred yards away from the residence.  

The rioters also set a fire to American Flags in Lafayette Square, the park adjacent to the North Lawn of the White House – and they were hit by tear gas by law enforcement. 

More than 50 Secret Service agents were injured in clashes with protesters in the nation’s capital, and more than 4,100 people were arrested across the country over the weekend as everything from peaceful protests to riots emerged in at least 145 cities.  

D.C. was also among the 40 cities that imposed a curfew as riots escalated after sundown.

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Monday that some of the protesters that terrorized the city overnight had come prepared with tools and supplies, and claimed that they set fires to draw police away from where they were planning to riot, loot and cause destruction.

‘We recognize that people are frustrated and mad but tearing up our beautiful city is not the way to bring attention to what is a righteous cause,’ Bowser told NBC News’ Today.

Just after the 11:00 p.m. curfew passed, a fire broke out at St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was spared from protests the day before. 

While Trump remained out of sight in the midst of the riots, his advisers discussed the prospect of an Oval Office address in an attempt to ease tensions. The notion was quickly scrapped for lack of policy proposals and the president’s own seeming disinterest in delivering a message of unity.

Instead, Trump has urged governors to activate the National Guard, demanding they ‘get tough, but has not sought control of the Army reservists himself to quell the nationwide riots.

The violence ensued after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed while in a white police officer’s custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.

A cellphone video of the incident went viral where Derek Chauvin, 44, can be seen holding his knee on Floyd’s neck during an arrest for more than eight minutes as the victim repeatedly said he could not breathe.

While Floyd was handcuffed, four cops, including Chauvin, were holding him down.

Chauvin was fired after the video emerged and taken into custody on Friday after the violent protesters demanded he be arrested – and he is being charged with third-degree murder.

The other three officers have not been arrested.

Trump has also blamed the media, Democrats and outside groups for exacerbating the riots – asserting on Sunday that he is classifying the far-left anti-fascists group Antifa as a terrorist organization.

Antifa has no official leaders, and it could appear their fingerprints are all over the riots as their demonstrations include violent tactics that they deem justifiable.

‘Congratulations to our National Guard for the great job they did immediately upon arriving in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last night,’ Trump tweeted Sunday morning. ‘The ANTIFA led anarchists, among others, were shut down quickly. Should have been done by Mayor on first night and there would have been no trouble!’

Minnesota law enforcement say that they believe white supremacists have infiltrated the riots in Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to stoke violent demonstrators.

‘They’re agitators, ‘Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell told CNN on Sunday, adding that there have been reports of Antifa members attending demonstrations.

While Trump does feel an outside group is involved, he asserted Monday that he does not believe that there were white supremacist groups mixed in with those protesting the death of George Floyd.

He instead doubled-down on blaming Antifa for the violent skirmishes with police.

‘I don’t see any indication that there were any white supremest groups mixing in. This is an ANTIFA Organization,’ the president asserted.

‘It seems that the first time we saw it in a major way was Occupy Wall Street. It’s the same mindset,’ Trump said, tagging ‘Fox & Friends’ host Brian Kilmeade and crediting him for the comment.

He also replied ‘TRUE!’ to the Kilmeade quote, and misspelled the word ‘supremacist.’

Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was asked Friday about reports that White Supremacists were involved and he answered, ‘My suspicions and what I’ve seen on this, yes.’

‘It gets worse than that,’ he added. ‘The cartels, who are wondering if there was a break in their drugs transmissions, are trying to take advantage of the chaos. That’s why this situation is on a federal level.’

While governors and mayors scramble to create more peace in their major cities, the president is blaming them not calling in the National Guard for aggravating the violent situations.

‘Get tough Democrat Mayors and Governors,’ Trump urged in a tweet. ‘These people are ANARCHISTS. Call in our National Guard NOW.’

‘The World is watching and laughing at you and Sleepy Joe,’ he continued, referring to presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. ‘Is this what America wants? NO!!!’

By Sunday evening, Trump followed up his calls for the National Guard with a tweet that simply read: ‘LAW & ORDER!’

So far, 15 states and Washington, D.C. have deployed the Guard.

Rioters continue to take to the streets, becoming especially active after sundown, in major cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and beyond. 

While there have been at least 4,100 arrests in cities across the country this weekend and countless protesters, rioters and law enforcement officials have been injured, there are at least five instances where people have been killed in the midst of the violence.

Gunfire rang out during the riots this weekend leading to deaths in Detroit, Michigan and Indianapolis, Indiana.

In Omaha, Nebraska, a 22-year-old black protester was killed in a struggle with a local business owner.

A man was shot dead by law enforcement officers in Louisville on Sunday on the fourth night of unrest in the city in a shooting believed to be linked to the protests.

Louisville’s protests, in particular, have also focused on the March 13 death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot eight times by narcotics detectives who knocked down her front door.  

Chaos had unfolded  in cities across America with more than 50 Secret Service agents injured in clashes with protesters in Washington DC, police charging into demonstrators in New York City and lootings continuing to unfold in major cities like California, Philadelphia and Boston.  

Demonstrations from Washington DC to Los Angeles swelled from peaceful protests – sparked by the death of a black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis police custody last Monday – into scenes of violence that drew National Guard troops in at least 15 states and Washington. 

More than 4,100 people were arrested this weekend alone as the violence continued to escalate and cities enacted strict curfews.