Nine months later, fencing comes down around the church where Trump stood with a Bible
Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post
March 1, 2021
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A worker on Monday straps fencing that surrounded St. John's Church in Washington.Washington Post photo by Matt McClain.
WASHINGTON - H Street downtown was nearly deserted and few people noticed Monday morning when workers at St. John's Church took down dozens of sections of black steel mesh fencing, a barrier that had gone up during the tumultuous summer of 2020 when the church wound up at the center of national debates about race, religion and security.
Across a small park from the White House, St. John's had been known for decades as the "president's church" for its elite congregation, but in June made news worldwide. As protests against police brutality and racism boiled across the country, someone threw a flammable substance through a basement window at the church, igniting a small fire. Then, after federal law enforcement officers used gas and horses to clear protesters, President Donald Trump walked to the front of the church to pose for cameras, holding a Bible aloft. Soon local Episcopal leaders slammed Trump for the use of force and the Bible as, in their view, a prop.