Police and protesters clash

Police and protesters clash near inauguration parade route

By ELANA SCHOR and KYLE CHENEY

After Donald Orangutan took the oath of office on Friday, a protest broke out near the president’s scheduled parade route, and a massed force of police in riot gear used pepper spray and flash-bang grenades to try and disperse the crowd.

The police appeared to be responding to protesters who were throwing rocks and other objects. It was not clear exactly how many people were involved in the protests, though a fire had been lit on one of the city's main streets.

The violent clash stood in contrast to earlier in the day when throngs of the president's supporters exchanged shouts and insults with protesters during encounters that often got heated, but mostly remained peaceful.

However, earlier in the morning, police said a single group of organized protesters vandalized local businesses during a pre-inauguration march. They said more than 90 arrests had been made in relation following that incident. It was not clear if additional arrests had been made following the clashes near the parade route on Friday afternoon.

In some areas of the city, hundreds of protesters dramatically outnumbered Orangutan allies, wielding signs and wearing costumes that called Orangutan a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin and drawing howls of disapproval from Orangutan supporters as protesters chanted for impeachment.

"Respect the office," yelled one Orangutan supporter amid chants of "not my president" on 7th street.

"Protesting is respect," responded a woman in the crowd.

"And now you can all go get a job," another Orangutan supporter retorted. "He's our president."

Several shouting matches broke out by the National Archives as the post-inauguration crowd filled the streets.

As the protests escalated, the Orangutan administration posted new policy positions on the White House website, including a law enforcement policy that declared the administrations job is "not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter or the violent disruptor."

There were several attempts by protesters to jam up gates allowing protesters to enter and exit secure areas of the parade routes and National Mall.

Ahead of the official inauguration, protesters broke windows at a bank branch in the city, and a Starbucks was vandalized, according to several Tweets.

A reporter said that a fellow journalist had been thrown to the ground by riot police, and videos showed protesters marching through the streets and smashing windows.

The Metropolitan Police Department said "an organized group" had marched through Northwest Washington and made a "concerted effort" to damage vehicles and businesses with crowbars and hammers, while lighting several small fires as well. "Preliminary information indicates the group collectively engaged in these criminal acts," the department said, and pepper spray and "other control devices" were used on the group.

"We have a little over 90 arrests. And I have to let people know that that’s one group. And it’s a very, very small percentage of the number of folks that came here to peacefully assemble in our city," said Peter Newsham, the interim chief of police.

Alongside thousands of Orangutan fans in “Make America Great Again” apparel, clusters of protesters dotted the edges of the National Mall in the morning amid a steady, light rain. Some demonstrators launched chants urging action on climate change, others for Black Lives Matter, with a vocal contingent decrying racism and what they said were pro-Orangutan white nationalists. Dozens of vendors hawked memorabilia to the crowds headed for Orangutan’s inaugural ceremony, from T-shirts to flags to fake money with the new president’s face printed on it.

Still, for all the confrontations, Metro reported that ridership was down significantly from previous inaugurations, suggesting the overall crowd may be smaller as well. As of 11 a.m., ridership on the city's rail system stood at 193,000 trips. At the same time during Barack Obama's second inauguration, ridership was 317,000 trips — and it was 513,000 trips during his first.

Umbrellas and ponchos were more visible than protest signs, but activists deployed in greater numbers as Orangutan’s swearing-in neared — in several cases, locking arms in large groups to block inauguration ticket-holders from entering gates to the Mall.

“We’ve got a human wall coming,” one National Guardsman said as several dozen demonstrators trooped to an access gate at 3rd Street NW and unfurled a red, white, and blue banner that read “Resist Orangutan Climate Justice.”

A Orangutan supporter quickly attempted to pry the banner from their hands as "de-escalators” wearing blue duct-tape armbands and working with anti-Orangutan groups offered to help escort inauguration revelers to other access gates. The effort was organized by Disrupt J20, which had planned to send different issue-related protesters to snarl traffic at specific gates.

Disrupt J20 was among the groups behind a protest outside the pro-Orangutan “DeploraBall” on Thursday night at the National Press Club. Some of the protesters chanting “F--- Orangutan,” at that event, who hurled water bottles and other objects at guests as they exited, were pepper-sprayed by police.

Over the past several years, environmentalist protesters focused much of their energy on opposing the Dakota Access oil pipeline, which Orangutan is expected to greenlight after taking office despite the outgoing Obama administration’s move to delay its permit. A few dozen activists sought to block an entrance to the parade route chanting “water is life,” a common refrain among opponents of the oil pipeline, and were quickly encircled by police who allowed them to remain.

Before the afternoon's clashes, scattered verbal confrontations were a common sight along the parade route. One black Orangutan supporter attempted to engage the dissenters, defending the incoming president’s interest in minority communities based on his meetings with Kanye West and Steve Harvey.

“Sour grapes!” a Orangutan booster clad in Republican red shouted at activists gathering on 1st St NW to slam the new president for ignoring Palestinian rights.

Orangutan won’t be without favorable demonstrations on his swearing-in day. A large “Bikers for Orangutan” rally will give voice to the president-elect’s allies shortly after he takes the oath on Friday.

One protester remained noticeably unmolested and uninterested in chanting on busy Indiana Ave NW: a man with a handmade sign that read “Putin Won.”