CLAIM: Biden’s campaign repeats a lie, claiming that the former president Donald Trump used tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters who gathered in Lafayette Square outside the White House for a photo op.

VERDICT: FALSE. This has been debunked numerous times and proven false. In June 2021, the inspector general of U.S. Department of Interior published a report that exonerated Trump of claims that he tear-gassed protesters who gathered at Lafayette Square to take a photo in the park in June 2020.

The Biden Campaign posted a video on X Saturday night. It claimed that, “four years ago” on this date, “Trump used tear gas on peaceful protesters outside of the White House.”

Four years ago today, Trump tear gassed peaceful protestors outside the White House pic.twitter.com/jryy1st48P

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) June 2, 2024

The Inspector General’s Report confirmed Trump and the former Attorney-General William Barr’s version as to what happened on that day.

On May 29, 2020, protests started in and around Lafayette Park. The USPP and U.S. Secret Service created a joint command on May 30 to coordinate law enforcement responses to the protests. Between May 30 and 31, at least 49 USPP police officers were injured while policing protests. Federal and private property also was vandalized.

The Secret Service purchased antiscale fencing on the morning of the 1st June to create a safer perimeter around Lafayette Park. It was scheduled to be installed and delivered that day. In coordination with Secret Service, the USPP determined it was necessary to remove protesters from around and within the park in order to allow the contractor’s workers to safely install fence. The USPP intended to begin the operation as soon the fencing material and enough law enforcement officers reached the park. Six other law-enforcement agencies helped the USPP and Secret Service clear and secure the area near the park.

The contractor began assembling and installing the antiscale fence at 7:30 p.m. The contractor started assembling and installing antiscale fencing at 7:30 pm and finished the job by 12:30 am on June 2.

The report states that “we did not receive evidence suggesting that USPP cleared Lafayette Park to allow the President to visit St. John’s Church.”

Inspector General’s report also revealed that the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC under Democrat Mayor Muriel Barrow used tear gas. Bowser defended the use of tear gas to clear the crowd.

Breitbart News’ Editor-in Chief Alex Marlow noted in his book Breaking the News, Exposing the Establishment Media’s Secret Corruption and Hidden Deals, that Trump’s stroll from the White House to St. John’s Episcopal Church through Lafayette Square became “a brief obsession” for the media.

Marlow also wrote in his book, “Democrat Media Complex has, as it does so often, wildly overstated the law enforcement response by claiming that they used tear gas against peaceful protesters.”

On June 1, 2020 President Trump walked from the White House to the Church across Lafayette Square, which became a media obsession for a few minutes. The police used extreme measures to disperse protesters in order to make a way for President Trump and select members of his cabinet to pass. The area around Lafayette Square has been a popular place for protests and gatherings, and it is now a focal point for Black Lives Matter activists in D.C. Muriel Bowser created a Black Lives Matter Plaza a few days after the incident. As they do so often, the Democrat Media Complex exaggerated law enforcement’s response by claiming that tear gas was used on peaceful protesters. Jake Tapper’s CNN show had a chyron on the bottom screen which read “Peaceful protesters tear gassed for Trump Church photo-op.”

Here are some other examples from prominent media figures and democrat figures of how they described the events:

Elizabeth Warren: “The president of the United States used tear gas on peaceful protestors.”

Joe Biden: He’s using American military forces against the American people.

Hillary Clinton: “Tonight, the President of the United States fired rubber bullets at peaceful protestors and used tear gas to douse them with.”

Oliver Darcy, CNN: “…[P]eaceful demonstrators just had tear gas and rubber bullets fired at them to allow the President to have this photo opportunity.”

Jon Favreau, podcast host and Obama brother: “The president had peaceful protesters shot at with rubber bullets and tear gas so that he could have his picture taken.”

Kamala Harris says: “Donald Trump has just tear-gassed protesters peacefully for a photo op.”

The USPP released a statement in which it explained that “no tears gas was used by USPP or other law enforcement partners” and said:

Officers used smoke canisters to disperse the protesters who were becoming more aggressive, throwing projectiles and grabbing officers’ guns. They also used pepper balls to diffuse the situation. USPP officers and other law enforcement partners did not use tear gas to close Lafayette Park.

Marlow explains in his book that “not one” of the statements made by people like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-MA), Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden who claimed Trump used tear gas against protesters “was retracted”, even after “Park Police stated they deployed canisters instead of tear gas.”

Breitbart news has reported in the past that the Lafayette Square protests were not as peaceful as the media claimed. The protesters assaulted a reporter from Breitbart and other journalists.

Breitbart News reported that despite these findings, Democrats, the media, and other sources have repeatedly repeated this false claim.

Biden, then the presumptive Democrat candidate for president, falsely claimed that Trump held the Bible upside-down in July 2020.

In August 2020, the Democratic National Convention falsely claimed that Trump used tear gas against peaceful protesters “across the White House.” Bowser was introduced as the speaker and repeated this false statement, failing to mention that St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had suffered damage from an earlier fire, had also been damaged.

Biden said that during a September 2020 debate, Trump had cleared the “peaceful demonstrators” who were gathered at Lafayette Square for a photo op.

Biden recently questioned “what Trump would have done” if African Americans stormed Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Biden then referred to the tear-gas debunked by Biden