Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blocked a resolution offered by Senate Democrats that would have condemned President Trump for “ordering Federal officers to use gas and rubber bullets against the Americans who were peaceably protesting” near the White House on Monday night.
The resolution also would have expressed the sense of Congress “that the constitutional rights of Americans to peaceably assemble, exercise freedom of speech, and petition the government for redress of grievances must be respected” and that “that violence and looting are unlawful, unacceptable and contrary to the purpose of peaceful protests.”
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) made a unanimous-consent request for the resolution’s passage, but McConnell objected.
In floor remarks, Schumer said the “aggressive” use of force by law enforcement officers against peaceful protesters was “appalling.”
“It was an abuse of presidential power,” he said. “It may have been illegal. And it was certainly a violation of the constitutional rights of American citizens. … This has no place in American society or any democracy worthy of the name.”