Not far from the placid crowds celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on the National Mall, a series of protests broke out across the streets of D.C. As Donald Trump ascended to the presidency and the inaugural parade commenced, demonstrators, reporters, two llamas, and hundreds of police officers clashed against a backdrop of Rihanna songs, broken limousine windows and pepper spray.
The protests, though violent and loud, are reportedly not visible from the Inaugural parade, which is set to begin as soon as Donald Trump finishes eating lunch.
Police have already arrested more than 95 people, and are currently deploying pepper spray and flash bombs around Metro Center, where the protests appear to be centralized. DC police say at least three officers were injured in the clash by protesters throwing bottles, bricks and rocks. But according to one MSNBC reporter on the ground, only a small group comprised of 50 of the thousands of protesters are actually throwing things.
Some reporters appear to have been caught up in the melee—there’s video of Washington Post reporter Dalton Bennett being thrown to the ground by riot police, and MSNBC’s audio technician was pepper sprayed by police. Even Larry King’s driver was “rattled” after protesters “smashed the windows of my hired SUV & many other cars,” the octogenarian tweeted.
The reported violence appears to be tied to demonstrators on both sides of the issue; there are reports of both anti-Trump protesters smashing windows and Trump supporters smashing protesters.
And more on the protests from reporters on the scene:
