Hours before the inauguration ceremonies began for Donald Trump on Friday, protesters came out to make their feelings known about the incoming president.
Joshua Armsted of southwest D.C. came with members of UNITE HERE to speak in opposition of Trump rejecting union labor. Capitol Police removed Armsted and several other members with UNITED HERE after they sat on a sidewalk to block Trump supporters from entering a section for the Capitol area for the inauguration.
“I’ll be out here for my brothers and sisters [with the union] every damn day of the week,” Armsted said.
However, things soon got testy between Trump supporters and protesters.
One Trump supporter tossed coffee at a few protesters before going toward the Blue Gate area of the Capitol at First and D streets in Northwest.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and interim Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham said during a press briefing that several people were arrested for vandalizing businesses and other property. Windows at a number of businesses were smashed, including Bank of America and Starbucks on 13th Street in Northwest.
Newsham said a few protesters threw bricks and rocks at police officers that resulted in the arrest of 217 people Friday for rioting. Newsham said six officers sustained minor injuries.
He also said arraignments will take place Saturday morning on the protesters arrested and the courts will decide the next step in the legal process.
“We respect the rights of people to gather and to protest peacefully in Washington, D.C., but we will not tolerate violence and vandalism in the destruction in our neighborhoods,” Bowser said.
Rob Robinson of Colorado Springs, Colorado, called Friday “another day in paradise” to attend the inauguration. He sported a Trump beanie and an Inauguration Day button with the presidential seal and 45th president of the United States.
Robinson chatted with a Trump protester who wondered why he supported Trump, especially being a Black man.
It’s about “another day, another dollar. Live on to see the next one. That’s the main goal in life, not this racism [expletive],” Robinson said. “I see [Trump] bringing the community together and stop this racial divide.”