An inauguration protest in Washington D.C. escalated Friday as protesters broke windows in the northwest region of the nation’s capital, resulting in police using pepper spray against the assembled crowd.
A video from NPR reporter Patrick Madden, taken just before the start of Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, shows protesters running through streets, knocking over trash cans and breaking windows. Madden reports that police have used pepper spray and a concussive device to subdue the crowd.
Teargas, cops in riot foot and protesters breaking windows. pic.twitter.com/WiSo92Qo3L
– Patrick Madden (@Patrick_Madden) January 20, 2017
A Periscope video from one protester shows more of the window smashing and police surrounding a group of protesters coughing from the pepper spray.
L.A. Times’ Matt Pearce reports that windows at several banks and a Starbucks were broken about 1.5 miles from the Capitol Building. Graffiti with messages including “Revolution or Death” have been sprayed on buildings.
The protests are taking place outside of a security perimeter that contains the Washington Mall, where Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Checkpoints along 12th Street have created a separation between Trump supporters eagerly watching the inauguration inside the Mall and protesters that have been chanting slogans against the new president in the streets outside. NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang reports that some of these chants include “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!” and “That is not my president.”
