“We have a big country,” said Donald Trump just outside the church, where he held up a Bible.
Washington:
US President Donald Trump sparked further outrage Monday after police used tear gas to evacuate protesters from outside the White House so he could pose for photos in a nearby church damaged in civil unrest .
The move earned him a severe reprimand from the city’s mayor, the bishop and the main democrats, including former vice president Joe Biden, who denounced the use of force simply “for a photo “.
Trump’s visit to the historic Church of St John, across from the White House, came after he made a speech denouncing the vandalism that followed the anti-racist protests that gripped the country for a week.
While he was speaking, law enforcement – including military police – could be seen firing tear gas to free peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park, outside the White House, to that the president can go to church.
Known as the “Church of Presidents,” St. John’s was sprayed with graffiti and partially damaged by fire during the unrest on Sunday.
“We have a big country,” said Trump just outside the episcopal church, where he held up a Bible. He did not answer journalists’ questions before leaving.
The game was fast.
Biden, the alleged Democratic presidential candidate in the November elections, criticized Trump for “using the US military against the American people” after the president promised to order an army crackdown on civil unrest large scale.
“He gassed peaceful protesters and fired rubber bullets. For a photo,” Biden tweeted Monday evening. “For our children, for the very soul of our country, we must defeat it.”
Biden also said he would speak in Philadelphia on Tuesday “about the civil unrest faced by communities across America.”
Washington mayor Muriel Bowser called the move “shameful.”
“I imposed a curfew at 7 p.m.,” she tweeted.
“Twenty-five minutes before the curfew and unprovoked, federal police used ammunition on peaceful protesters outside the White House, an act that will make the work of @DCPoliceDept officers more difficult.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also expressed outrage at the incident.
“What the president did today was that he called the US military against American citizens,” Cuomo tweeted.
“He used the military to push a peaceful protest so that he could have a photo op in a church. This is just a reality show for this president.”
The visit exasperated the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Marian Budde.
The president did not ask for permission to visit, she told CNN, condemning her use of a Bible, her refusal to pray, her refusal to acknowledge the agony of the Americans and her decision to use tear gas on the demonstrators to carry out the visit.
“I am indignant … we are moving away from the inflammatory language of this president,” she said.
“I can’t believe what my eyes saw tonight … I had no idea,” she added.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
