Trump Taken To Underground Bunker during White House Protests - NYT

By Staff, Agencies

As demonstrators clashed with police and Secret Service agents outside the White House on Friday, US President Donald Trump was taken to the underground bunker for a period of time.

Trump was there for a little under an hour before being brought upstairs as protesters pulled metal barricades away from the White House gates, The New York Times reported Sunday.

First lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, were also moved to the bunker, CNN reported citing a law enforcement source and another source familiar with the matter.

"If the condition at the White House is elevated to RED and the President is moved" to the Emergency Operations Center "Melania Trump, Barron Trump and any other first family members would be moved as well," one of the sources said.

White House officials have so far not responded to requests for comment, and the Secret Service declined to cite operational concerns.

Cities across the US have been the scene of chaos for nearly a week as anti-racism protesters have held demonstrations over the brutal death of an unarmed black man last Monday.

George Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck as he begged for air. A video released showed ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes as Floyd cried for his mother and said he couldn’t breathe.

Curfews have also been announced in several US cities but many protesters remained defiant with law enforcement officers responding with a show of force in an attempt to disperse otherwise peaceful crowds.

On Sunday night, police fired tear gas outside the White House to disperse protesters as businesses, a church and other establishments in the vicinity were boarding up their windows and securing their valuables amid fears that protests could intensify.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Sunday asked protesters to remain peaceful as she ordered a curfew there from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and activated the DC National Guard.