National Guard officer to invoke whistleblower protection recount Lafayette Square protest clearing
An officer of the National Guard is expected to invoke whistleblower protection at Tuesday's House hearing probing the use of force during a protest in Washington, D.C.'s Lafayette Square last month, pitting him against President Trump and the acting chief of the U.S. Park Police, who have polar opposite accounts of the same incident.
National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco said the warnings by officers – required by law – that the park was going to be cleared of hundreds of demonstrators, who he says we largely peaceful, were “barely audible” from his position 20 yards away, according to his pre-written testimony to House Natural Resources Committee.
“From what I could observe, the demonstrators were behaving peacefully,” when Park Police, the Secret Service and other unidentified forces, some mounted on horses, began using clubs and chemical agents to disperse the crowd, as well as other tactics such as punching and beating protesters, DeMarco wrote in his testimony.
DeMarco is expected to invoke the Military Whistleblower Protection Act, which in part says that no one can block a member of the armed forces from lawful communications with Congress.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/national-guard-officer-to-invoke-whistleblower-protection-to-recount-lafayette-square-protester-clearing/ar-BB17hWh9?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=DELLDHP
