Over 1,250 former Justice Department workers have called on Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate Attorney General William Barr’s involvement in the June 1 effort to push back peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, using horses and tear gas, so President Trump could walk to a church for a photo op. The former employees wrote in a letter to Horowitz that they were “deeply concerned” about the Justice Department’s actions in response to the protests. The letter calls for the immediate opening of an investigation into the decision. Barr has repeatedly defended the move, falsely claiming that the protesters were being violent on several occasions.