President Trump praised the U.S. Secret Service for its response to overnight protests outside the White House, saying protesters would have been met with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons” if they had managed to breach the fences.
The unrest came as demonstrations erupted in cities across the United States in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes.
“Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe,” Mr.Trump said in one of several tweets about the demonstrations.
“They let the ‘protesters’ scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone … got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard – didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic.”
“Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would…have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least,” Mr. Trump continued.
He said Secret Service officers were “just waiting for action,” saying he was told: “We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and…good practice.”
“As you saw last night, they were very cool & very professional. Never let it get out of hand. Thank you! On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved. ‘Not their job.’ Nice!” Mr. Trump wrote in a fourth an final tweet.
The Secret Service addressed the protests outside the White House with a statement on Twitter, saying that uniformed officers had made six arrests.
“Demonstrators repeatedly attempted to knock over security barriers on Pennsylvania Avenue,” the statement said. “No individuals crossed the White House Fence and no Secret Service protectees were ever in danger.”
The statement said that some of the demonstrators were violent, and had assaulted officers with “bricks, rocks, bottles, fireworks, and other items,” resulting in “multiple” officers sustaining injuries. It also said that the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police were on the scene, contradicting Mr. Trump’s tweets.
“The Secret Service respects the right to assemble, and we ask that individuals do so peacefully for the safety of all,” the statement concluded.
The White House was locked down on Friday evening as around 200 people gathered in front of the White House. Protesters pulled away the barricades that separated them from the White House. The Secret Service restored the barricades back in their place once they were knocked down, but it became almost a game, CBS News’ Fin Gomez reported.
Thousands of protesters congregated elsewhere in Washington, D.C., according to CBS Washington affiliate WUSA.
