Republican Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse criticized President Donald Trump for reportedly clearing out a protest in front of the White House and walking across the street to St. John’s Church, which was set on fire by protesters Sunday night.
“There is no right to riot… But there is a fundamental—a Constitutional—right to protest, and I’m against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo op that treats the Word of God as a political prop,” Sasse said in a statement.
BEN SASSE statement: “There is no right to riot… But there is a fundamental—a Constitutional—right to protest, and I’m against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo op that treats the Word of God as a political prop.”
— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) June 2, 2020
Trump’s move came minutes after he gave a speech in the Rose Garden of the White House about the riots taking place across the country and about George Floyd’s death, who died while in police custody after an officer put his knee into the back of his neck for over five minutes while he was handcuffed and on the ground. (RELATED: President Trump Walks Out Of White House, Holds Up Bible In Front Of St. John’s Church Amid Protests)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement Monday night, similar to Sasse’s, about the way protesters outside the White House were reportedly treated, saying it “dishonors every value that faith teaches us.”
“Tear-gassing peaceful protestors without provocation just so that the President could pose for photos outside a church dishonors every value that faith teaches us,” the two said in their statement.
Sasse won his primary in mid-May.