June 02, 2020

Warren Calls on DOJ IG to Investigate Role of Attorney General Barr in "Sickening and Appalling" Attack on Peaceful Protestors at the White House

Report Indicates that Attorney General Barr Personally "Ordered the Removal of Protestors"; Americans Protesting Death of Black Americans at the Hands of Police "Ambushed" with Rubber Bullets and Chemical Gas for a Blatant Political Photo-Op for the President

Text of Letter to DOJ IG (PDF)

Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) formally requested that the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) investigate the role of Attorney General William Barr and DOJ law enforcement personnel in the "sickening and appalling" attack on peaceful protesters at the White House. 

"The role of Attorney General Barr in ordering this attack and then participating in an ugly political propaganda event with the President, and the potential roles of DOJ law enforcement personnel, raises troubling questions about how and why this attack against law-abiding citizens occurred," wrote Senator Warren. 

According to a report in the Washington Post, "Attorney General William P. Barr personally ordered law enforcement officials on the ground to clear the streets around Lafayette Square..." According to a statement by Attorney General Barr, DOJ law enforcement personnel participating in activities in Washington, DC included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Warren asked the DOJ IG to investigate the extent to which DOJ law enforcement personnel were involved in the attack and were or are involved in responding to ongoing protests in other locations in Washington, DC and across the country, and about the specific role Attorney General Barr played in ordering the attack on peaceful protestors at the White House.

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