Peaceful protests across the country Friday were partially undermined by flares of violence and property damage in Washington, D.C., where two officers were injured and at least 95 people were arrested.
Throughout the day in different parts of the capital, police used pepper spray, batons and other crowd-control devices to disperse protesters. Some people vandalized buildings and even set a limousine ablaze as day turned to night and President Donald Trump made his way down the inaugural parade route.
Protests in other parts of the city ― and the country ― remained relatively peaceful.
Just an hour before Trump took the presidential oath of office, tweets from D.C. showed people smashing windows at a Bank of America location. A Starbucks was vandalized at the intersection of 13th and I Streets NW.
It was unclear who was actually doing the damage, and the identities of the vandals weren’t released. But police described them as an “organized group” with the sole purpose of destroying property with “crowbars, hammers and asps” about a mile away from the National Mall.
“Two officers have been injured related to vandalism and destruction of property, and 95 arrests made at this point,” Lt. Sean Conboy of the Metropolitan Police Department told The Huffington Post.
read more at huffingtonpost.com
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