Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has apologized for his participation in President Trump’s June 1 walk across Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C.

The walk followed security personnel forcibly removing peaceful demonstrators from the square, and led to the president’s photo op in front of the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church.

In video and photographs, Milley is seen wearing combat fatigues, walking with the president, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and other administration officials.

In a pre-recorded speech to graduates of the National Defense University, Milley said “As senior leaders, everything you do will be closely watched. And I am not immune. As many of you saw, the result of the photograph of me at Lafayette Square last week. That sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society.” The video address was released June 11.

He went on to say, “I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.

“As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it,” he added.

Milley’s remarks comes a week after Esper distanced himself from the event that sparked condemnation from lawmakers and former senior military leaders.

“I was not aware of a photo-op was happening,” Esper said, adding that he tried “to stay out of situations that may appear political, and sometimes I’m successful with doing that, and sometimes I’m not as successful.”

In his speech, Milley addressed the event that has sparked nationwide protests, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as well as racism in the U.S. military and U.S. society.

“I am outraged by the senseless and brutal killing of George Floyd. His death amplified the pain, the frustration, and the fear that so many of our fellow Americans live with day in, day out,” Milley said.

“The protests that have ensued not only speak to his killing, but also to the centuries of injustice toward African Americans,” he added, saying “we should all be proud that the vast majority of protests have been peaceful.”

At one point during the crisis, President Trump said he would deploy active duty military to the streets of America to maintain law and order. It has been reported that Milley and other top defense officials pushed back.

“We never introduced federal troops on the streets of America as a result of the combined efforts of the Guard and law enforcement at quelling the violence and de-escalating very, very tense situations,” Milley said in his speech.

Milley also addressed racial inequality in the U.S. armed forces saying “our military has a mixed record on equality.”

“While the military sets an example for civil society through our inclusiveness, we too have not come far enough. We all need to do better. For example, although the United States military has a higher proportion of African Americans serving in our ranks than in society at large, only 7 percent of our flag and general officers are African American,” he said, adding “we must, we can, and we will do better.”

In the past week, senior military leaders from all the service branches have spoken out about racism within the ranks, and outlined steps to address the issue.

As part of that dialog, Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said on June 8 they would be open to changing the names of 10 military installations named after Confederate generals.

The Army bases in question are all in Southern states. They are: Fort Bragg, N.C.; Forts Benning and Gordon in Georgia; Forts Pickett, A.P. Hill and Lee in Virginia; Fort Polk and Camp Beauregard in Louisiana; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Rucker, Ala.

On June 10, however, President Trump shot down the idea in several tweets.

“These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a … history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom. The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations.

“Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!”

And minutes after the tweets, Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, began the day’s press briefing by distributing copies of the tweets to reporters.

“That was directly from the president. We spent some time working on that, and I wanted to deliver that to you,” she said.