Inauguration protesters vandalize city,

try to disrupt Trumps oath, police

arrest nearly 100
A group of protesters with the Black Lives Matter movement shut
down an inauguration entrance checkpoint at John Marshall Park
in downtown Washington. (The Washington Post)
By Theresa Vargas, Taylor Hartz and Arelis R. Hernndez January
20 at 2:17 PM

Protesters made themselves heard in the nations capital Friday,

leaving shattered property along some city blocks and disrupting
security checkpoints to President Donald Trumps inauguration,
where they slowed crowds from entering onto the Mall and, in at
least one spot, stopped them completely.
As people poured into the city to watch Trump sworn in as the
45th president, they encountered protesters across the area
throughout the day. Many of the demonstrations were nonviolent,
with people holding signs that spoke to their causes and concern.
One protest even took on a carnival atmosphere, with puppets,
stilt walkers and a giant inflatable elephant wearing a sign that
read racism. But other groups tried to disrupt the days events,
leading to injuries and nearly 100 arrests by 1:30 p.m.
Six people intent on interrupting the presidential swearing-in
ceremony even made it into the closest section of seats to Trump.
They wore shirts that spelled out R-E-S-I-S-T and got up and
started shouting We the people! as Trump took the oath of
office at noon. As authorities removed them from the area, they
raised their fists and shouted USA! USA! One woman yelled,
Were for an America for all of us.

Some in the crowd responded with taunts: Na, na, na, na, hey,
hey, hey, good bye.
[See the Posts Live Blog on Inauguration Day news]
After the swearing in, protesters arrived at the Franklin Square
area and clashed with police. The protesters were throwing rocks,
bricks and chunks of concrete and were taking newspaper boxes
and barriers and putting them on the streets. Meanwhile police
used flash-bang grenades and chemical spray to hold the
protesters back.
Trump supporters and protesters clashed throughout the day at
several locations, and it sometimes turned violent. One officer
was slightly injured when he was struck by an object thrown
during a protest along the K Street corridor, said Doug Buchanan,
a spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
Authorities said two other officers were injured, one by pepper
spray and another falling off a bicycle.
D.C. Interim Police Chief Peter Newsham said officers have
arrested more than 90 people in connection with protests that
turned violent on Friday and caused significant damage to a
number of blocks in our city.
He said a a very small percentage of the thousands who came
to demonstrate the inauguration resorted to violence. Newsham
said demonstrators threw rocks and overturned trash cans, and
broke windows at a bank, several shops including a Starbucks and
an Au Bon Pain, and shattered car windows. Police said those
arrested were charged with rioting.
Its disappointing that it had to happen, Newsham said, praising
how officers responded. We knew this was going to be a long
day. ... Anyone who thinks they can come here and break the
law, we will take them into custody.
It was just before 10:30 a.m. when a large group of black-clad
protesters self-described as anti-capitalist and antifascist
made their way south on 13th Street near K Street, throwing

newspaper boxes and garbage cans into the street and trying to
set them on fire, leaving them smoldering. They also broke glass
at bus stops and businesses and smashed the windows of a
limousine. Loud bangs sounded out from fireworks they lit.

A man is pepper sprayed at the corner of 12th and I St. N.W. in

Washington D.C. on Jan. 20, 2017, as police responded to a
vandalizing group of protesters. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The
Washington Post)

Protesters chant, Not my president! at the entrance to a

security checkpoint before the inauguration ceremony. (Michael S.
Williamson/The Washington Post)
Some carried signs, including one that read: No peaceful
transition. Police cleaned up behind them as they marched, and
authorities used chemical spray in an attempt to disrupt the
vandalism. They ultimately herded the group away from the
inauguration parade route with a large number of police vehicles
and officers in riot gear, and they used concussion grenades
which make a loud noise to break up the crowd.
At least one bystander, a middle-aged man, was injured when the
grenades went off; he was hit in the head, which was cut and
bleeding.

Another man, Robert Hrifko, 62, who rode his Harley Davidson
motorcycle up from St. Augustine, Fla., to join the Bikers for
Trump group, approached several firemen and asked: Do you
think I need stitches?
A welt on his cheekbone dribbled blood. He said a man hit him
with rock after he tackled a protester who was attempting to
throw an aluminum chair at a police officer.
Bam just waylaid me, he said. The firemen offered him a
Band-Aid and said he would be all right. Good, I aint got
insurance anymore, because I cant afford Obamacare.
Protesters jammed city streets and also aimed to jam checkpoints
to the inauguration, at times successfully.
Shut it down! protesters shouted at the checkpoint at John
Marshall Park early Friday morning. There, five black men stood at
the front of the crowd, chained together, blocking the path.
Hailing from different parts of the country, the men were
protesting on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement. As they
stood together, they shouted that by demonstrating, all we have
to lose is our chains.

Police began redirecting people to

other entrances at about 8:30 a.m. As protesters there shouted,

This is what democracy looks like, a Trump supporter countered.
He pointed to the other side of the fence and said, This is what
democracy looks like, but I cant get to it because of you!
Michael Henning came from Dalton, Ohio, to see the events on
the Mall and expressed frustration with how police handled the
situation.
We drove 20 hours, and now we cant get in, Henning said.
Everyone should have just brought guns and had it out, Id be
happy if they just dropped a bomb on them.
Protesters march down K Street on Inauguration Day. (Jabin
Botsford/The Washington Post)
One protester was arrested after sprinting up 13th Street and
taunting a small group of officers chasing him. As he passed a
D.C. fire station, cheers could be heard behind the glass of the
garage doors: Get him! Get him! When a young man in a hoodie
apparently an undercover police officer bolted from the side

and brought the protester down on the sidewalk with a flying

tackle, a cheer arose from inside the station.
Im not resisting, Im not resisting, the protester said from
beneath a pile of three officers. How are you all doing today? he
said, just before being helped to his feet, his hand in restraints.
It is unclear how many protesters descended on the nations
capital for the inauguration, but law enforcement officials were
bracing for more than 60 demonstration groups, both in support
of and against Trump. About two dozen groups have received
permits for specific gathering spaces for Friday and Saturday,
when the Womens March will take over the streets. According to
their permit requests, some of those groups Friday were
anticipating as few as 20 participants; others were planning for
tens of thousands.
Dozens of anti-Trump protesters marched in downtown
Washington along K and 13th streets ahead of the inauguration
ceremony. (The Washington Post)
In the days leading up to the inauguration, protests started with
one group shutting down K Street in downtown Washington and
gay rights advocates holding a dance party near the temporary
home of Vice President-elect Mike Pence in Chevy Chase,
complete with biodegradable glitter and the hashtags
#WeAreQueer #WeAreHere #WeWillDance.
Thursday night, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the
National Press Club in downtown Washington, where the
DeploraBall was being held. They shouted obscenities and
insults such as racist and Nazi at those attending the
celebratory ball on the eve of Trumps inauguration, and at one
point someone threw an object that hit a counter protester in the
head. Officers directed chemical spray at the crowd multiple times

after protesters began throwing trash at Trump supporters who

were leaving the building.
Many protesters participated in nonviolent demonstrations Friday.
One man brought three llamas named Shay, Tragically Cute, and
Thaddeus from a farm in Lancaster, Pa. Other groups protested
silently, letting their signs speak for them.
I just wanted my voice to be heard, said Sharae Cloak, who
stood quietly with two friends. Its a sad day in America, in the
world. I didnt want to be one of those people who complains and
sits at home.
But at least one organization had vowed to try to shut down the
city. Organized under activist collective Disrupt J20, that group
arranged to have different organizations gather at each of the
dozen checkpoints that inauguration ticket holders had to pass
through to view the ceremony. Each aimed to speak to a different
cause, organized under names that include: Future is Feminist,
Movement for Black Lives, Standing Rock for Native Lives,
Economic Justice and Communities under Attack.
At one checkpoint, a group of LBGT protesters held a banner that
read: Out of the Closet. Into the Streets and danced along to
Abba and Madonna. They blew whistles and horns and filled the
wet pavement with blue and purple glitter.
We are here as a celebration of all the rights we have achieved
as a movement and to stand up for ourselves, said Mike
Mcvicker-Weaver, 40, an HIV health care worker from Baltimore.
At a checkpoint near 10th and E streets, a group of women early
in the morning tied themselves together with purple yarn and sat
down, blocking people from passing.

Hey, hey, ho, ho! Donald Trump has to go! the group of about
100 mostly young protesters said. End white supremacy!
Clashes broke out at the location throughout the morning, and the
line appeared at a standstill less than an hour before Trump was
expected to take the oath of office.

Police corral a group of protesters at the intersection of L and

15th Streets N.W. on Inauguration Day. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The
Washington Post)
Disrupt J20 describes its plans online as a series of massive
direct actions that will shut down the Inauguration ceremonies
and any related celebrations the Inaugural parade, the
Inaugural balls, you name it. Were also planning to paralyze the

city itself, using blockades and marches to stop traffic and even
public transit.
The group, which expected more than 30,000 participants,
planned to gather in the afternoon at McPherson Square, where a
stage and sound system would feature a series of speakers,
including activist Michael Moore.
Not all of the demonstrations on Friday were anti-Trump. Among
those groups that requested permits for space were two
organizations that support him: Bikers for Trump and Let America
Hear Us, Roar for Trump.
The latter shared Dupont Circle with a group that did not request
a permit but set up there early Friday DCMJ, which was formerly
known as the D.C. Cannabis Campaign and was behind the
successful effort to legalize marijuana in the District in 2015.
The group, which started rolling joints this month, plans to hand
out 4,200 before marching to the Mall. Once there, those who get
through the security checkpoints a problem because it is illegal
to possess marijuana on federal land, which includes the Mall
plan to light up four minutes and 20 seconds into Trumps speech.
A 40-year-old pot grower named Josh stood near Dupont Circle
Friday morning, controlling the line, which stretched up
Massachusetts Avenue. He said he had donated a half-pound of
his own weed for the giveaway.

Id appreciate it if you dont do any illegal here, Josh told the

crowd. If you want to do something illegal, take it down the
block.
Nikolas Schiller, co-founder of DCMJ, said the demonstration is not
a protest of Trump but a signal of wanting to work with him on
fully legalizing cannabis in all 50 states and the District.
This is about demonstrating to Trump that he has the power to
change the law and do what Obama was not able to do, Schiller
said. We believe cannabis legalization will create jobs, it will
increase tax revenue, and it will also help fix the broken criminal
justice system.
As for the bikers they will be sharing space with Friday, he said,
We hope some come on over and get a free joint.
Another organization, the ANSWER Coalition, planned to host a
large gathering at the U.S. Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania
Avenue.
Ben Becker of ANSWER said that more than 45,000 people
indicated through social media an interest in joining the groups
protest near the U.S. Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue. The
group, which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, had
a 28-foot stage and large sound system set up there and plans to
showcase speakers and performers throughout the morning and
afternoon.
Were considering it the counterinauguration, Becker, 33, said.
The main message is that there is going to be a grass-roots

movement of resistance to the Trump agenda from Day One of his

presidency.
The group had thousands of signs ready to hand out. Among
them: Say no to racism, Stop the Trump Agenda and
Inaugurate the Resistance.
Becker said his hope for the day, regardless of how many people
show up, is that they leave feeling confident in their ability to
stand up, fight back and organize.
Its not a one-day event, he said. Were calling it Day One of a
larger resistance movement.
Michael Alison Chandler, Steve Hendrix, Peter Hermann, John
Kelly, Robert McCartney and Clarence Williams contributed to this
report.
Posted by Thavam