After promising to deploy the U.S. military against protesters angry over the killing of unarmed Black people, President Donald Trump made his way to a historic Washington, D.C., church for a photo op where he held up a Bible and posed with members of his administration.
But moments before Trump’s journey to St. John’s Church, which lies right across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, police cleared a crowd of largely peaceful protesters using tear gas and other means of force — prompting outrage from religious leaders and politicians.
Trump visited the church a day after a small fire caused damage to its basement during ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody on May 25, which have spread from