07.24.20

Livestream Next Week: Acting U.S. Park Police Chief, District of Columbia National Guard Major Will Testify on June 1 Lafayette Square Police Crackdown

Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, July 28, Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will lead a full Committee hearing titled Unanswered Questions About the U.S. Park Police's June 1 Attack on Peaceful Protesters at Lafayette Square. This is the second hearing in the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the events of June 1, when multiple federal law enforcement agencies – under supervision of the U.S. Park Police (USPP), part of the Interior Department – beat and tear-gassed unarmed, peaceful protesters at Lafayette Square across the street from the White House.

Acting USPP Chief Gregory Monahan will testify as the sole witness on the first panel at the hearing. Following his appearance, the Committee will take testimony from Adam DeMarco, a major in the District of Columbia National Guard who played an interagency coordinating role during the June 1 crackdown and is testifying under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act.

Maj. DeMarco, a 2009 West Point graduate, served five years in the Army’s 1st Cavalry and 1st Armored Divisions as a field artillery officer and is currently an Operations Officer with the 260th Regiment, Regional Training Institute. His decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Air Force Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters.

The event follows the Committee’s June 29 hearing on the crackdown, which featured testimony from injured Black Lives Matter protester and Navy veteran Kishon McDonald; Amelia Brace, a correspondent for Australia’s 7News who police struck with a baton as she and her cameraman reported from the scene; the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which oversees St. John’s Episcopal Church, where President Trump held his now-infamous Bible photo op; and George Washington University law professor Johnathan Turley.

Highlights of that hearing, where some Republican lawmakers dismissed concerns about the crackdown as overblown, are available at https://bit.ly/2OVdhda.

Radley Balko, a columnist for the Washington Post, wrote on July 23 about the administration’s refusal to provide a witness for the Committee’s June 29 hearing and its ongoing insistence that the crackdown did no serious harm to protesters: “The administration is telling the people there that they didn’t wheeze from the irritant burning in their eyes, noses and throats; that their bruises were left by baton blows that never happened; that the rubber projectiles that struck their arms and legs were imaginary.”

When: 10:00 a.m. Eastern time

Watch Live: https://bit.ly/2OQBAZG (Facebook) or https://youtu.be/eC2hXPGhTMo (YouTube)

Witnesses

Gregory Monahan

Acting Chief, U.S. Park Police

Adam DeMarco

Major, District of Columbia National Guard

Press Contact

Media Contact: Adam Sarvana

(202) 225-6065 or (202) 578-6626 mobile