U.S. Attorney General William Barr apparently made a U-Turn while driving through Fairfax County, Virginia, on Thursday so he could personally thank a group of pro-police demonstrators.
The video: Footage posted to Twitter the same day by Barr’s spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, shows him mingling with the law enforcement supporters on a sidewalk.
According to Kupec, Barr spotted the demonstrators from the road and asked his FBI detail, “Can we make a quick U-Turn? I want to jump out and thank those people.”
- Barr, America’s top law enforcement officer, is seen walking through the crowd, shaking hands and exchanging greetings.
- Demonstrators — waving American flags and displaying placards with slogans like “Back the Blue” — greet Barr enthusiastically.
- Shouts heard: “This is awesome!” and “Keep up the good work!”
- At the end of the clip, which has been viewed 1.3 million times, one man organizes a selfie with Barr.
Barr, who is widely admired by conservatives for his no-nonsense public persona, sparred with Democrats last week during congressional testimony about his department’s response to sometimes-violent nationwide protests against racism and policing.
- At one point, the attorney general challenged the Democrats in the room: “Why can’t we just say, you know, violence against federal courts has to stop? Could we hear something like that?”
