WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2020) White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany during a press briefing on Wednesday said law enforcement acted with the appropriate level of force when dispersing protests earlier this week.
"The US parks services when having bricks thrown at them and frozen water bottles had the right to act. They acted with the appropriate level of force to protect themselves and to protect the average citizenry and to protect the peaceful protesters who were among them as well," McEnany said.
On Monday, US park police denied using tear gas during the protests near the White House. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper stated earlier on Wednesday that no rubber bullets or tear gas were used by the National Guard during recent protests in the nation's capital.
On Monday, media outlets, including Sputnik, reported that tear gas and rubber bullets were used on demonstrators near the White House who were protesting another police-related death of an African American.
Nicole Roussell, a Sputnik journalist in Washington, DC, said she was fired at by US police several times while covering George Floyd protests, despite saying several times she was a press staffer. As Roussell filmed protesters "being sprayed with mace in their eyes," she was shot at with a rubber bullet on her calf.
George Floyd, a 46-year old African American man, died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. A video of the arrest posted online shows a white officer kneeling on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes while he laid on his stomach handcuffed. The county medical examiner ruled it a homicide and the officer involved was arrested and charged with murder.
