Nearly two years after the Trump administration ordered racial justice protestors cleared from Lafayette Park ahead of a presidential photo-op in front of a nearby church, the Justice Department announced official changes to federal rules on policing protests. 

The new guidance comes as a partial settlement of four lawsuits filed by demonstrators against the Trump administration and the heads of some law enforcement bodies, claiming their peaceful protest was dispersed unconstitutionally and violently. 

“This case is a strong example that your voice matters, your voice is protected and your voice matters,” Lia Poteet, one of the protestors suing the Trump administration, told DCist/WAMU. “I think we’ve made it a lot less likely that this could ever happen again, and if it does happen again, there will be consequences.”

The Biden administration is putting new policies in place that are intended to prevent future instances like what occurred in June 2020, when the lawsuit alleges U.S. Park Police and other officers used tear gas, pepper spray capsules, rubber bullets, and flash bombs against protestors. 

The changes require Park Police to make clear and audible warnings before dispersing a protest while wearing clearly visible identification. Park Police also can revoke a demonstration permit only in the case of a “clear and present danger to the public safety,” per the settlement. The changes explicitly prohibit discriminatory policing and modify Secret Service policy so that some individuals’ unlawful actions do not justify use of force against the entire crowd. 

“We hope this updated policy can serve as a model for others to uphold civil rights and facilitate safe demonstrations,” National Park Service director Chuck Sams said in a statement. “It is good for the public and good for our officers.”

The June 1, 2020, incident attracted national media attention in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and international racial justice protests.  At about 6:30 p.m. on the fourth night of massive racial justice protests downtown, federal law enforcement cleared a slew of peaceful protestors from Lafayette Park, with some protestors reporting tear gas being used at the scene. After the square was cleared, then-President Donald Trump walked through the area to take a photo holding a Bible in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church.

The Trump administration initially pushed back against the lawsuit, claiming the Park Police did issue warnings and denying they used tear gas. Park Police representatives, meanwhile, made contradictory statements about whether or not they had used tear gas in the immediate aftermath of the incident. A report from the U.S. Interior Department more than a year later determined that while MPD had not participated in the clearing of Lafayette Park on that night, the department had used chemical irritants on protestors leaving the scene.  

“The use of tear gas and rubber bullets will never be enough to silence our voices or diminish our duty to demand an end to police violence against Black communities,” April Goggans, organizer with Black Lives Matter D.C., said in a statement.  “Today marks a win for the ongoing resistance against all attempts to subvert dissent.”

The litigation will continue after today, with the protestors seeking damages against a number of individuals involved in clearing the square, including former Attorney General William Barr, Park Police Commander Mark Adamchik, and individual officers from the Park Police, Arlington Police, and Metropolitan Police Department. 

Previously: 

Report Finds D.C. Police Responsible For Use Of Tear Gas During Clearing Of Lafayette Park
Lawsuit Says MPD Fired Tear Gas During June 1 Lafayette Square Clearing
Trump, Officials Didn’t Miss A Chance To Get In Front Of Cameras During Fourth Night Of Protests In D.C.