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Read: Whistleblower says officials considered using "heat ray" on D.C. protesters

17 September 2020
 Dan Ackermann

Federal officials stockpiled ammunition at the D.C Armory and sought crowd control devices before law enforcement forcibly cleared protesters from Lafayette Square in June, an Army National Guard major told Congress, per his written testimony.

Why it matters: D.C. National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco's testimony is a part of a congressional investigation into law enforcement's use of force against demonstrators protesting George Floyd's death in the square.

Context: "Developed by the military as a crowd dispersal tool decades ago, the ADS has largely been abandoned amid doubt of its effectiveness and ethical questions," USA Today notes.

Background: Federal forces flushed protesters from the park across from the White House on June 1, deploying tear gas, stun grenades and brute force, shoving demonstrators and members of the media with shields and batons.

  • They did so shortly before President Trump crossed the park to pose for photos with a Bible at St John's Episcopal Church — across the street from the square.

The big picture: The Trump administration argued afterward that protests had turned violent and officers were responding to fireworks, fires and thrown water bottles and rocks.

  • DeMarco testified in July that the use of force was an "unnecessary" and "unprovoked" escalation that he and his fellow National Guardsmen viewed as "deeply disturbing."
  • DeMarco testified that assault rifles was transferred from Fort Belvoir to the D.C. Armory on June 1 and that transfers of ammunition from states such as Missouri and Tennessee arrived in subsequent days.
  • By mid-June, about 7,000 rounds of 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition rounds had been transferred to the D.C. Armory, DeMarco said, though he did not specify that the rounds may be used for.

Read DeMarco's written response, obtained and shared by NPR, via DocumentCloud:

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.