Press members evacuated from White House by Secret Service - report
Members of the White House press corps were told to leave the White House grounds by Secret Service personnel while a demonstration was taking place in Lafayette Square.
By TOBIAS SIEGALDemonstrators raise their fists in the air near the White House, during a protest against racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Washington, U.S., June 6, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)
In a highly unusual decision, the US Secret Service evacuated press members from the White House, CNN reported on Monday evening.According to the reports by CNN, members of the White House press corps were told to leave the White House grounds by Secret Service personnel while a demonstration was taking place in Lafayette Square, where protesters were trying to bring down a statue of former President Andrew Jackson, just across the street from the White House.The protesters were eventually dispersed by the police.The incident occurred following several weeks of high tension between protesters and law enforcement in Washington D.C. and around the White House, following the killing of George Floyd, an African-American, by a white police officer in downtown Minneapolis on May 25.Last month, the situation in the US capital escalated to the point that the Secret Service rushed President Trump to an underground bunker, where he remained for nearly an hour.Trump responded by taking angrily to Twitter, where he called for the National Guard to be deployed and for mayors and governors to take control of the rapidly escalating situation.
