Police used tear gas to clear protesters from Lafayette park so Trump could take a photo at St. John's Church

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• Law enforcement in Washington, DC, fired tear gas and rubber bullets, and used shields, against peaceful protesters on Monday, according to reporters on the scene.
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• The attack, in front of St. John's Church near the White House, came at 6:30 p.m. local time just before President Donald Trump spoke at 6:44 p.m. in the Rose Garden. He later went to the church and was photographed holding a bible.
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• "There was no warning. The crowd was entirely peaceful," Jackson Proskow, Washington Bureau Chief for the Canadian outlet Global News, posted on Twitter. "Trump had police move in with tear gas and horses so he could stage a photo op outside a church across the street."
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Law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets, and other tactics, on Monday to clear out protesters in Lafayette Square so that US President Donald Trump could have his photo taken in front of a church near the White House.

Protesters were pushed out of the park - which is next to the White House grounds - at around 6:30 p.m. local time, shortly before Trump's speech.

As the Associated Press reported, "Tear gas canisters could be heard exploding as Trump spoke in the Rose Garden." According to a pool report, the area near St. John's Church, which is across from Lafayette Square, was still thick with gas when the press arrived ahead of the president's stop, prompting "coughing and choking."

-Cameron Peters (@jcameronpeters) June 1, 2020

Reporters who had been on the scene earlier said that protesters had not engaged in any violence before the police fired tear gas and pushed

"There was no warning. The crowd was entirely peaceful," Jackson Proskow, Washington Bureau Chief for the Canadian outlet Global News, posted on Twitter. "Trump had police move in with tear gas and horses so he could stage a photo op outside a church across the street."