Trump Sheltered In Underground Bunker As Protests Raged Outside The White House On Friday

Neer Varshney
·2 min read

President Donald Trump was taken to the "Presidential Emergency Operations Center" in the White House on Friday as hundreds of protestors gathered outside the building to protest the killing of George Floyd, the New York Times reported Sunday.

What's 'Presidential Emergency Operations Center?'

The facility, an underground bunker, is used by the Secret Service to protect the incumbent president in extreme scenarios, for example, if a terrorist attack is imminently feared.

It isn't immediately clear why Trump was moved to the bunker by the Secret Service, and White House officials said they don't comment on the president's security protocol, as per the Times.

What Happened

Floyd, a 46-year old black Minneapolis man, died after an encounter with the police on May 25. In a video footage shot by bystanders that emerged after his death, a police officer, Derek Chauvin, was seen kneeling on his neck for nearly 10 minutes, even as Floyd said he couldn't breathe and later fell unconscious.

The U.S. has been gripped with protests since his death, some of which have turned violent across the country.

Hundreds of protestors tussled with Secret Service officials late Friday outside the White House, toppling over some temporary barricades, throwing water bottles at the security, setting off fireworks, and burning a pile of wood and at least one car, the Times reported.

The day following the protests and his reported night in the bunker, Trump sent out a set of troubling tweets and said he "couldn't have felt more safe."

Had the protestors breached the fence, they would "have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen," the president said.

According to the Times, the bunker was last used for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11 in 2001.

Image Credit: Courtesy of the White House.

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