(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department’s top watchdog issued a report Wednesday criticizing former Attorney General Bill Barr’s management of the aggressive law enforcement response to protests in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2020 that turned violent in the wake the murder of George Floyd.
While DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz determined Barr was not personally involved in the controversial clearing of Lafayette Park to make way for former President Trump’s photo op in front of St. John’s Church on June 20, 2020, the 168-page report levels numerous criticisms regarding the “chaotic and disorganized” response by Barr and other DOJ leaders to the civil unrest that shook the nation’s capital.
“We were troubled by the Department leadership’s decision-making that required DOJ law enforcement agents and elite tactical units to perform missions for which they lacked the proper equipment and training,” the report says. “Multiple witnesses also told us that leadership did not timely and effectively communicate these deployment decisions to subordinates and non-DOJ agencies involved in the response.”
The report specifically singles out Barr’s efforts to show the DOJ could reign in the violence and vandalism surrounding the protests without military intervention, saying he “pressed DOJ law enforcement components to deploy personnel without sufficient attention to whether those personnel were properly trained or equipped for their mission.”
For example, the report confirms that Bureau of Prisons personnel deployed to respond to the unrest lacked jackets that had insignia identifying them as law enforcement personnel, which gained significant press attention and garnered harsh criticism from Democrats and civil rights groups. However, the review confirmed “that the lack of such markings was due to the fact that the BOP does not traditionally deploy personnel in a public-facing role outside the prison setting,” and not due to a deliberate effort to conceal the officers’ identities.
The review also scrutinizes the FBI’s deployment of personnel during the period between June 1 and June 3, following violent protests near the White House and a fire at St. John’s Church that led to former President Trump temporarily sheltering in the White House’s bunker on May 29.
According to the report, the deployment “lacked adequate planning, failed to provide sufficient guidance to personnel regarding their mission and legal authorities, and, by sending armed agents to respond to civil unrest for which they lacked the proper training or equipment, created safety and security risks for the agents and the public.”
“While we recognize that the civil unrest following George Floyd’s murder was a highly unusual situation that presented significant challenges the Department does not typically face, ensuring the safety of its personnel and the public should remain its utmost priority,” the report further said. “In the midst of a crisis, during pressure-filled moments when leadership must make hard decisions with little time to fully assess collateral and unintended consequences, the time-tested law enforcement practices and procedures that were collectively developed, after careful and calm deliberation, can and should be the first and most trusted resource for Department leadership.”
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