Most fencing around Lafayette Square being removed Thursday

Most fencing around Lafayette Square across the street from the White House is being taken down Thursday, roughly two weeks after protests began in response to the death of George Floyd.

The park is open to the public as of Thursday morning, though some areas will remain closed off after they were damaged when demonstrations turned violent, a Secret Service spokesperson said.

“The U.S. Secret Service is currently removing the temporary fencing around Lafayette Park. Though that process is still ongoing, Lafayette Park is currently accessible to the public,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

John Falcicchio, the chief of staff to Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, tweeted a video of staffers removing some of the fencing around the park.

The fence is coming down pic.twitter.com/Y9WD29gIck

— John J. Falcicchio (@falcicchio) June 11, 2020

The Lafayette Lodge House and some other buildings will remain cordoned off while the National Park Service makes repairs, the Secret Service said.

Pennsylvania Avenue will remain closed between 15th and 17th streets directly in front of the White House, though a portion of the road had been previously inaccessible to pedestrians during construction on the main fence around the complex.

Fences were erected around the White House complex last week as demonstrations grew in size in response to the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

The fencing around Lafayette Square was installed after law enforcement dispersed protesters from the area using smoke canisters and tear gas on June 1 ahead of President Trump’s visit to nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photo opportunity.

The barriers around the Ellipse to the south of the White House came down on Wednesday, but Secret Service indicated that there were ongoing discussions around when to remove the fences around Lafayette Square.

Protests have been peaceful for the past several days, and demonstrators turned the fencing around the park into a makeshift memorial and art installation to raise awareness about racial injustice and highlight victims of police brutality.