St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square

On June 1, 2020, amid the George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C., law enforcement officers used tear gas and other riot control tactics to forcefully clear peaceful protesters from outside Lafayette Square surrounding streets, creating a path for President Donald Trump and senior administration officials to walk from the White House to St. John's Episcopal Church. Trump held up a Bible and posed for a photo op in front of Ashburton House (the church's parish house), which had been damaged by a fire during protests the night before.The clearing of demonstrators from streets bordering Lafayette Square was widely condemned as excessive and an affront to the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly. Just before visiting the church, Trump delivered a speech in which he urged the governors of U.S. states to quell violent protests by using the National Guard to "dominate the streets", or he would otherwise "deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem".Former military leaders, current religious leaders, and elected officials from both parties condemned Trump for the event, though some of Trump's fellow Republicans defended the actions. The event was described by The New York Times as "a burst of violence unlike any seen in the shadow of the White House in generations" and possibly one of the defining moments of the Trump presidency. Civil liberties groups filed a federal lawsuit against Trump, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, and other federal officials, alleging they violated protesters' constitutional rights. General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, later apologized for his role in the photo op.A June 2021 Interior Department Inspector General review of U.S. Park Police actions found that Park Police cleared Lafayette Square as part of a plan to erect fencing. The Park Police incident commander was reportedly stunned when Barr informed him of Trump's impending visit. That report also confirmed the use of tear gas by D.C. Metropolitan Police, revealed Park Police did not request deployment of Bureau of Prisons to the park, and reported that it was not known why U.S. Secret Service had deployed ahead of schedule, advancing on protesters before the Park Police had a chance to warn protesters to disperse. The report also indicated that Park Police commanders could not identify who gave the order to deploy or why radio transmissions were not recorded.

Ashburton House, also known as St. John's Church Parish House or the British Legation, is a historic house at 1525 H Street NW, on Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. Built in 1836, it is notable as the residence of Lord Ashburton in 1842, during which time negotiations took place there culminating the Webster–Ashburton Treaty. This settled a long list of border disputes between the U.S. and the British provinces that are now Canada, and ended the Aroostook War. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973. It presently serves as the parish house for St. John's Episcopal Church.

On May 22, 2023, a U-Haul truck crashed into the north barriers of the Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. The driver, Sai Varshith Kandula, is accused of having intended to seize power.

The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence (BLM Memorial Fence) was a two-block eight-month long protest art installation of Black Lives Matter memorials attached by visitors and community activists to the chain link fence outside the White House on H Street, between Vermont Avenue and Connecticut Avenue NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. in 2020 and 2021. The 1.7-mile (2.7 km) cordon of fencing around the White House was erected to move the growing crowds of protesters gathered at and around Lafayette Park after the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. The Memorial Fence developed from June 2020 until it was dismantled and archived in January 2021. Members of the public worked together to maintain, protect, and then archive the thousands of signs and artworks that were offered by the public.

Black Lives Matter Plaza (officially Black Lives Matter Plaza Northwest) is a two-block-long pedestrian section of 16th Street NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. The plaza was renamed by Mayor Muriel Bowser on June 5, 2020, after the Department of Public Works painted the words "Black Lives Matter" in 35-foot (11 m) yellow capital letters, along with the flag of Washington, D.C., during the series of George Floyd protests taking place in the city.

A bronze statue of Tadeusz Kościuszko by Antoni Popiel is installed in Washington, D.C.'s Lafayette Park, in the United States.The statue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as a part of American Revolution Statuary in Washington, D.C. A copy of the monument was unveiled in Warsaw, Poland, in 2010.

The Lafayette Square Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District in Washington, D.C., encompassing a portion of the original L'Enfant Plan for the city's core. It includes the 7-acre (2.8 ha) Lafayette Square portion of President's Park, all of the buildings facing it except the White House, and the buildings flanking the White House to the east and west. The district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

The Hay–Adams is an historic luxury hotel opened in 1928, located at 800 16th Street NW in Washington, D.C. It south-fronts on Lafayette Square across from the White House. It sits on the former site of the connected 19th-century mansions which were owned by influential friends John Hay and Henry Adams, giving the hotel its name.

Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) was a nonprofit group supporting school voucher and charter school programs in the United States. It was one of the largest pro-voucher groups. The group's mission was to "actively support parental choice to empower families and to increase quality educational options for Black children". Black Alliance for Educational Options' chairman in 2002, Howard Fuller, was a former schools superintendent in Milwaukee where the first voucher program in the U.S. was established. Gerard Robinson was the group's president until his appointment as Education Secretary for the state of Virginia. Harrison Blackmond became president of the group's Detroit chapter.In 2013, the group opposed a Federal lawsuit seeking to block a voucher program in Louisiana. The group was also critical of the defunding of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. The group supports performance pay for teachers. The group's board of directors has included: Dwight E. Evans Kevin P. ChavousFunding support has come from the Bradley Foundation. In October 2017, it was announced that BAEO was shutting down and on December 31, 2017, BAEO stated on their Facebook page, "Today is the last day for us."

Andrew Jackson is a bronze equestrian statue by Clark Mills mounted on a white marble base in the center of Lafayette Square within President's Park in Washington, D.C., just to the north of the White House. Jackson is depicted dressed in military uniform, raising his hat with his right hand, while controlling the reins with his left hand as his horse rises on its rear legs.

The Kremlin Annex protests are an ongoing series of protests held in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., in front of the White House. They are so named because protesters believe the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been unduly influenced by the Russian government, also known informally as the Kremlin.

Lafayette Square is a seven-acre (30,000 m2) public park located within President's Park, Washington, D.C., United States, directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east and Pennsylvania Avenue on the south. It is named for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and hero of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and includes several statues of revolutionary heroes from Europe, including Lafayette, and at its center a famous statue of early 19th century U.S. president and general Andrew Jackson on horseback with both of the horse's front hooves raised. The square and the surrounding structures were designated the Lafayette Square Historic District in 1970.