Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer proposed a resolution Tuesday defending the right to assembly by condemning President Trump for allowing authorities to clear protestors with “the use of gas and rubber bullets.”
The resolution also condemns the violence and looting that has erupted across the country, arguing they are “unlawful, unacceptable and contrary to the purpose of peaceful protests.”
Demonstrators were removed from Lafayette Park using tear gas and flashbangs about a half-hour before a city-wide curfew went into effect.
Mr. Trump walked to the St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House, which was damaged by fires earlier this week, after vowing to crack down on the nationwide protests and unrest that sparked after George Floyd, a black man, was killed in Minnesota.
Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, criticized Mr. Trump for worsening the tension across the nation in a joint statement Monday night.
“At a time when our country cries out for unification, this President is ripping it apart,” they wrote. “Tear-gassing peaceful protestors without provocation just so that the President could pose for photos outside a church dishonors every value that faith teaches us.”
Mr. Trump has faced an outpouring of criticism for the photo-op, where he held up a bible in front of the church, from Democrats and the faith leaders connected to St. John’s.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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