'Autonomous Zone' in D.C. Cleared Out by Cops After Rioters Deface Church, Trump Vows Not Here

AP featured image — A protester speaks with a Park Police officer standing guard with a line of police closing off off the area around Lafayette Park near the White House after protesters tried to topple a statue of Andrew Jackson in the park in Washington, early Tuesday, June 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

There will be no autonomous zone in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.

Radical leftists went too far on Monday as they tried to set up an autonomous zone in the Lafayette Park area, near the White House and near the historic St. John’s Church that leftist rioters had set ablaze at the end of May.

As we reported, they tried to set up barricades similar to the autonomous zone in Seattle now known as CHOP, the Capital Hill Occupied Protest. They defaced the church, spray painting the letters “BHAZ” on the columns, standing for “Black House Autonomous Zone.”

St. John’s Church has been vandalized with spray paint reading BHAZ (Black House Autonomous Zone) pic.twitter.com/8D7UITVTK0

— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@RichieMcGinniss) June 23, 2020

BLACK AUTONOMOUS ZONE FORMING OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSEpic.twitter.com/LRmZLQzE5U

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) June 22, 2020

Then they tried to pull down the statue of President Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square. Jackson was the founder of the Democratic Party.

Rioters in Lafayette Square in Washington DC are trying to topple over a statue of President Andrew Jackson
pic.twitter.com/p3hFCLx9P8

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 23, 2020

That was enough for police who then moved in.

They moved them back from the statue so they weren’t able to pull it down, although they did vandalize it with phrases like “killer.”

As my colleague Streiff reported earlier, Trump warned the rioters that this was a bad move, that they could get 10 years in federal prison for it. He also criticized states who were not responding to stop the Monument Mob. “A lot of states are weak. A lot of people are weak and they’re allowing it to happen,” Trump said.

Then this morning D.C. cleared out the finally remaining segments of the zone that was camped out in front of the church.

DC police clear the streets just north of the #WhiteHouse where protesters tried to set up an autonomous zone last night. pic.twitter.com/OgId4yFs9u

— Charlotte Cuthbertson (@charlottecuthbo) June 23, 2020

Nicely done! Just move, as they protest asking why they aren’t allowed to camp on the sidewalk. No fuss, no muss.

Good move. They can’t let it deteriorate into what has happened in Seattle, a drugged out fearful zone to live in at night, with murders and shootings and all manner of other crimes. The Seattle mayor finally conceded that something had to be done about winding it down and that the police would be going back into the area and the East Precinct which they had abandoned. Previously, she had referred to it as a “big block party” and “summer of love” as well as declaring that police wouldn’t be allowed in unless there was a significant risk to life.