President Donald Trump reportedly took cover in the White House’s underground bunker during the protests that turned violent nearby in Lafayette Park on Friday night.
According to the New York Times and Associated Press, the Secret Service grew alarmed at the hundreds of protesters near the White House, some of whom were throwing bricks at police officers guarding the building, and decided to bring Trump to Presidential Emergency Operations Center, famously known as the bunker in which Vice President Dick Cheney took shelter during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
The protests were part of the nationwide demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota who died after white police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly ten minutes as three other officers pinned down Floyd.
The President spent about an hour in the bunker, according to the Associated Press.
Trump, who has been stoking division via Twitter amid the chaos by accusing to sic the military on the protesters and attacking Democratic lawmakers, was reportedly shaken by the demonstrations.
White House spokesperson Judd Deere would neither confirm nor deny whether Trump had taken shelter in the bunker.
“The White House does not comment on security protocols and decisions,” Deere told the Associated Press and the New York Times.
