Donald Trump, the man who hid in a bunker because he was scared of the peaceful protestors, decided to up the ante on Monday night by tear gassing peaceful protestors in front of the White House in order to clear a path for him to walk over to St. John's Church.
Oh, and his goons gassed a priest and other clergy.
A PRIEST.
DONALD TRUMP TEAR GASSED AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST.
Do you know who else destroyed religious buildings and attacked religious leaders? Hitler. Kristallnacht (or Crystal Night) occured on November 10, 1938 and involved attacking businesses, apartments and religious organizations be attacked. Anyone in this buildings were attacked and arrested. They had committed no crimes except merely existing. During that one night, 267 synagogues were destroyed and religious leaders attacked.
The Holocaust museum said this about Kristallnacht:
“Kristallnacht was a turning point in the history of the Third Reich, marking the shift from antisemitic rhetoric and legislation to the violent, aggressive anti-Jewish measures that would culminate with the Holocaust.”
And here we are, 82 years later, and an autocratic leader has unleashed the military on his own people and ordered a priest to be tear gassed. But how dare we compare him to Hitler?
The Episcopal priest who was forcibly removed and tear gassed is named Rev. Gini Gerbasi. She was in her clerical garb when U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops fired tear gas on her and the peaceful protesters in front of the church to allow Donald Trump to get his photo op.
Gerbasi said: “They turned holy ground into a battleground."
What was her crime? She was handing out water, snacks and hand sanitizer to peaceful protestors.
All of a sudden, she was overcome with tear gas.
She said: “I was suddenly coughing from the tear gas. We heard those explosions and people would drop to the ground because you weren’t sure what it was."
Gerbasi wrote a long Facebook post sharing her thoughts:
"Friends, I am ok, but I am, frankly shaken. I was at St. John's, Lafayette Square most of the afternoon, with fellow clergy and laypeople - and clergy from some other denominations too. We were passing out water and snacks, and helping the patio area at St. John's, Lafayette square to be a place of respite and peace. All was well - with a few little tense moments - until about 6:15 or so. By then, I had connected with the Black Lives Matter medic team, which was headed by an EMT. Those people were AMAZING. They had been on the patio all day, and thankfully had not had to use much of the eyewash they had made. Around 6:15 or 6:30, the police started really pushing protestors off of H Street (the street between the church and Lafayette Park, and ultimately, the White House. They started using tear gas and folks were running at us for eyewashes or water or wet paper towels. At this point, Julia, one of our seminarians for next year (who is a trauma nurse) and I looked at each other in disbelief. I was coughing, her eyes were watering, and we were trying to help people as the police - in full riot gear - drove people toward us. Julia and her classmates left and I stayed with the BLM folks trying to help people. Suddenly, around 6:30, there was more tear gas, more concussion grenades, and I think I saw someone hit by a rubber bullet - he was grasping his stomach and there was a mark on his shirt. The police in their riot gear were literally walking onto the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with these metal shields, pushing people off the patio and driving them back. People were running at us as the police advanced toward us from the other side of the patio. We had to try to pick up what we could. The BLM medic folks were obviously well practiced. They picked up boxes and ran. I was so stunned I only got a few water bottles and my spray bottle of eyewash. We were literally DRIVEN OFF of the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades and police in full riot gear. We were pushed back 20 feet, and then eventually - with SO MANY concussion grenades - back to K street. By the time I got back to my car, around 7, I was getting texts from people saying that Trump was outside of St. John's, Lafayette Square. I literally COULD NOT believe it. WE WERE DRIVEN OFF OF THE PATIO AT ST. JOHN'S - a place of peace and respite and medical care throughout the day - SO THAT MAN COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!! PEOPLE WERE HURT SO THAT HE COULD POSE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH WITH A BIBLE! HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO STEP OVER THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE WE WERE BEING TEAR GASSED!!!!
I am deeply shaken. I did not see any protestors throw anything until the tear gas and concussion grenades started, and then it was mostly water bottles. I am shaken, not so much by the taste of tear gas and the bit of a cough I still have, but by the fact that that show of force was for a PHOTO OPPORTUNITY. The patio of St. John's, Lafayette square had been HOLY GROUND today. A place of respite and laughter and water and granola bars and fruit snacks. But that man turned it into a BATTLE GROUND first, and a cheap political stunt second. I am DEEPLY OFFENDED on behalf of every protestor, every Christian, the people of St. John's, Lafayette square, every decent person there, and the BLM medics who stayed with just a single box of supplies and a backpack, even when I got too scared and had to leave."
She ended with these words: “I am ok,” she added. “But I am now a force to be reckoned with.”
It takes a true evil to attack religious leaders. Antichrist. Evil.
