Last Summer did feature another stunt at St Johns Church to serve the Trump 2020 election bid, including an increase in conflict that rationalized federal intervention in Portland and served the framing of the 1/6 insurrection as an “antifa plot”.
The D.C. National Guard’s deployment of helicopters to quell racial justice demonstrations in Washington last summer, a chilling scene in which two aircraft hovered extremely low over clusters of protesters, was a misuse of military medical aircraft and resulted in the disciplining of multiple soldiers, the Army said Wednesday.
In an announcement, the Army said one helicopter “hovered under 100 feet” over the heads of people in the nation’s capital on June 1 as D.C. police and federal agencies worked to disperse crowds protesting police brutality after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis days earlier.
An Army official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to be candid, acknowledged that a UH-72 Lakota helicopter at one point hovered a mere 55 feet off the ground. A Washington Post investigation last year estimated the height was 45 feet.
The Post's visual investigation into military helicopters that roared low protesters won bronze medals in two categories from @SND's 2020 Best of Digital News Design https://t.co/yxXNitjgBD
In the latest example of why DC should have control over our own National Guard, the @USArmy released a report finding the @DCGuard1802 lacked understanding of the use of helicopters to disperse protesters last summer.
— Eleanor #DCStatehood Holmes Norton (@EleanorNorton) May 3, 2021
(2020)
Hemmed in by police on all sides, Camellia Magness feared that the military helicopter descending on downtown Washington might unleash a final assault on protesters.
It was June 1, nearly three hours after federal police in riot gear charged largely peaceful demonstrators as they gathered near the White House to protest after the killing of George Floyd. Magness and others had lingered downtown past a 7 p.m. curfew.
Military helicopters had been flying high overhead, seeming to track their movements. But shortly before 10 p.m., a Black Hawk swept low over protesters in Chinatown and held its position, producing gusts that snapped thick tree limbs and swirled the air with volleys of dust and broken glass, sending many running for cover in panic and confusion.
“I thought they were going to land,” Magness, 24, said, fearing soldiers would pour out and force protesters into waves of police.
On the streets, the maneuvers created wind speeds equivalent to a tropical storm, according to calculations by aerospace engineers who reviewed The Post’s data.
The two helicopters hovered over the protesters for a combined 10 minutes, first one and then the other, as protesters ran for cover.
The maneuvers — which did not appear to result in reported injuries — were a surreal coda to a day of demonstrations in Washington after the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis. The moves stunned human rights groups, military law experts and former pilots, who described them as a show of force more commonly used to disperse civilians in war zones.
D.C. Guard officials, who have launched an investigation into the incident, declined to discuss the helicopters’ altitude, whether senior officers ordered the low-flying tactic, whether the pilots received unclear guidance about their mission or whether the pilots were grounded amid a review.
“It was clear they were trying to intimidate us,” Magness said.
Why did the DC National Guard deploy two UH-72 Lakota helicopters at last summer's protests over the murder of George Floyd in Washington as well as ground troops, but completely fail to even show up at the Capitol insurrection on January 6th?
— Fight against fascism!!🥊 (@RileyScout1520) April 15, 2021
Here's my reading on how the 1/6 commission would work, with legal expert @rgoodlaw.
Short version: It defines the scope well. Focus is on the terror attack on US democracy. Rs can pull mischief, but Dems have real control over investigative direction:https://t.co/3zaLVI3f7Fpic.twitter.com/FcWi4tBTQ5
Shortly after federal law enforcement heed Barr order to "clear" Lafeyette Park of peaceful protestors, and Trump marches to St. JOHNS church. 10 hours after long convo between Trump and Putin.
