Watchdog slams ex-AG William Barr over 'chaotic' response to 2020 Black Lives Matter protests

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's internal watchdog on Wednesday issued a damning report criticizing former Attorney General William Barr for overseeing a "chaotic and disorganized" response to protests, unrest and rioting in the nation's capital following the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

The report found that Barr, who served as attorney general under then-President Donald Trump in 2019 and 2020, "pressed DOJ law enforcement components to deploy personnel without sufficient attention to whether those personnel were properly trained or equipped for their mission."

The Justice Department's inspector general criticized the deployment of government agents who weren't wearing uniforms that noted the agency they belonged to, let alone wearing name tags or numbers that would allow them to be individually identified if they used excessive force, in responding to protests in 2020.

"We were troubled by the Department leadership’s decision-making that required DOJ law enforcement agents and elite tactical units to perform missions for which they lacked the proper equipment and training," the report from DOJ's Office of Inspector General stated. "Multiple witnesses also told us that leadership did not timely and effectively communicate these deployment decisions to subordinates and non-DOJ agencies involved in the response."

It was Barr’s idea to bring in federal prison employees to handle civilian protests, even though those employees had no experience with such situations and were only used to handling unrest in carceral institutions where individuals were convicted criminals with restricted constitutional rights, as opposed to free American citizens with full rights under the constitution.

At the time, a senior Justice