| Lafayette Square | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view: Lafayette Square is the green space to the left of Pennsylvania Avenue (center). The White House grounds are to the right | |
 Interactive map of Lafayette Square | |
| Coordinates | 38°53′58.3″N77°02′11.6″W / 38.899528°N 77.036556°W /38.899528; -77.036556 |
| Area | 7 acres (2.8 ha) |
Lafayette Square is a seven-acre (28,327 m2) public park located withinPresident's Park inWashington, D.C., directly north of theWhite House onH Street, bounded byJackson Place on the west,Madison Place on the east andPennsylvania Avenue on the south. It is named for the general, theMarquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat, and hero of theAmerican Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
The square includes several statues of revolutionary heroes from Europe, including Lafayette. At its center is a famous statue of early 19th century U.S. president and generalAndrew Jackson on horseback with both of the horse's front hooves raised.
In 1970, Lafayette Square and the surrounding structures were designated theLafayette Square Historic District.
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Planned byPierre L'Enfant as part of the pleasure grounds surrounding the Executive Mansion, the square is part ofPresident's Park, which is the largerNational Park Service unit that also includes theWhite House grounds,The Ellipse, theEisenhower Executive Office Building and grounds and theTreasury Building and grounds. In 1804, PresidentThomas Jefferson hadPennsylvania Avenue cut through the park and separated what would become Lafayette Square from the White House grounds. In 1824, that north side square including the park was renamed in honor of theMarquis de Lafayette, the French general whose involvement was indispensable in securing victory in theAmerican Revolutionary War.[1][2][3]
Named in honor of the naval war hero Commodore Steven Decatur,[4] theDecatur House borders Lafayette Square.[5] Used for slave trading,[5] the house remains as one of few surviving examples of an urban slave market.[6]
The land on what is now Lafayette Square was formerly used at various times as "a racetrack, a graveyard, a zoo, aslave market, an encampment for soldiers during theWar of 1812, and the site of many political protests and celebrations."[6] In the early and mid-19th century, the buildings around the square included the homes of Washington's most prominent residents, includingWilliam Wilson Corcoran,Martin van Buren,Henry Clay,Dolley Madison,John Hay, andHenry Adams.[6]
In 1851,Andrew Jackson Downing was commissioned by PresidentMillard Fillmore to landscape Lafayette Square in thepicturesque style.[6] On February 27, 1859, US RepresentativeDaniel Sickles killedPhilip Barton Key II in Lafayette Square. Key had come to the park for an affair with Sickles's wife, only to be discovered and killed by Sickles.[7]
In the 20th century, the area around the square became less residential, with buildings increasingly occupied by offices and professional groups,[6] especially in the 1920s, and the construction of theTreasury Annex.[8] The last resident, Mary Chase Morris of the O'Toole House (730 Jackson Place), died during theGreat Depression era, and her former home became an office building.[6]
Today's plan for the park dates from the 1930s. The park has five large statues. In the center standsClark Mills'equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson, erected in 1853; it is the first bronze statue cast in the United States.[9] In the four corners are statues of foreign Revolutionary War heroes:[6]
Lafayette Square was a popularcruising spot for gay men until the 1950sLavender scare.[14]
In the 1960s, Lafayette Square became more noted for its use as a protest location. Protests related to nuclear weapons, Israel, and theVietnam War were held there.[15]
In the 1970s, the park was overrun with a largeEastern gray squirrel population, possibly "the highest density of squirrels ever recorded in scientific literature," which eventually destroyed many trees and flowers in the park.[16] The squirrels' large numbers were sustained because the public overfed the squirrels and also becausenestboxes had once been installed and maintained by theNational Park Service.[16] In 1985 and 1987, the issue was solved by a project in which the nest boxes were removed and many squirrels were captured and relocated away from Lafayette Square, toFort Dupont Park and elsewhere.[16]
In 1989,Drug Enforcement Administration agents arranged acrack cocaine purchase in Lafayette Park prior to US PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush's delivery of a national address that was part of his ongoingeffort against drug abuse.[17]
Thomas andConcepcion Picciotto are founders of theWhite House Peace Vigil, which is the longest runninganti-nuclear peacevigil in U.S. history, at Lafayette Square.[18]
On June 1, 2020, amidmass protests in Washington, DC andnationally, which followed themurder of George Floyd inMinneapolis; Lafayette Square and surrounding city streets were forcefully evicted ofprotesters, reporters, and clergy by police in riot gear usingtear gas and clubbing them with batons. A day after the incident, a DOJ official said thatU.S. Attorney GeneralWilliam Barr had personally ordered the park and surrounding areas to be cleared which resulted in a display of police aggression against a largely peaceful crowd.[19]
The act, carried out byU.S. Park Police,Arlington County police,Federal Bureau of Prisons officers, andSecret Service officers,[20] was condemned by critics as a violation of theFirst Amendment right tofreedom of assembly.[21][22] Bureau of Prison officials fired pepper spray munitions, contrary to the instructions of Park Police leadership.[20] Although theD.C. Metropolitan Police was not involved in the initial advance of police against the crowd, MPD officers fired tear gas at demonstrators as they moved away from the park toward 17th Street.[20]
A report by theU.S. Department of Interior Office of Inspector General (OIG), released in June 2021, was limited to examining the Park Police under its jurisdiction. It concluded that the Park Police action was part of a plan to install "antiscale fencing" and that these plans were made before Barr arrived on the scene at 6:10 p.m. and before Trump walked to the church.[23][24][25][26] Park Police commanders could not agree on who gave the order to deploy or explain why radio transmissions were not recorded.[26]
The OIG report found that, contrary to the Park Police operational plan, the Secret Service began their operation at 6:16 p.m., soon after Barr arrived and a full seven minutes before any dispersal order was given by the Park Police.[26] The Secret Service apologized for this incident but the OIG for the Department of the Interior and the OIG for the Department of Homeland Security declined to investigate their actions.[26][27] Similarly, the Park Police also deployed prior to completing dispersal orders.[26] Park Police did not explain why the operation began before a widely announced curfew as requested by DC Police.[26]
The OIG report further stated that the Park Police's orders to disperse were not heard by all of the crowd and were generally ineffective.[20] The OIG report stated that the evidence obtained by the OIG concerning Park Police "did not support a finding" that Trump's visit was the reason why the park was cleared.[20][23][25][24] The OIG report concluded that the decision to clear the park was lawful and consistent with Interior's policy, but made no conclusions on whether the decision to clear the park was a good decision,[25] nor did the OIG report make any conclusions about whether thepolice use of force was appropriate.[20]
The OIG report focused on the role of Park Police (which is part of the Interior Department), and not on the role of other agencies, such as the Secret Service, which is part of theHomeland Security Department. Interior OIG investigators did not interview Secret Service or White House personnel.[20] As a result, the OIG report stated that OIG "cannot assess whether" Barr's visit to the park or any planned movement by Trump "influenced the Secret Service's actions, including its early deployment on to H Street."[24] In 2020,Joseph V. Cuffari, theDHS Inspector General, blocked recommendations from his staff to conduct an investigation into the Secret Service's actions in the clearing of Lafayette Square.[27]
On June 22, 2020, demonstrators attempted to tear down thestatue of Andrew Jackson at the center of the square. Following this incident, Lafayette Square was closed to the public. It was reopened on May 10, 2021.[28]
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