Liberal activists protesting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration scuffled with police in Washington on Friday after attempting to block the Republican real estate developer’s supporters streaming in for the ceremony.
About 900,000 people were expected to pack the grassy National Mall facing the Capitol, where Trump will be sworn in, as well as the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House and other parts of central Washington.
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rotesters organized by a group called Disrupt J20 linked arms at one of the dozen security checkpoints leading to the largest public viewing area for the ceremony, and several were led away by police in riot helmets and body armor.
Organizer Alli McCracken, 28, of Washington, said Disrupt J20 hoped to shut down the checkpoint as a sign of its displeasure over Trump’s controversial comments about women, illegal immigrants and Muslims.
“We have a lot of people of diverse backgrounds who are against U.S. imperialism and we feel Trump will continue that legacy,” McCracken said on a gray morning when rain was forecast.
One of the largest anti-Trump protests expected on Friday will be organized by the ANSWER Coalition, a broad-based liberal group, which expects to have thousands at the U.S. Navy Memorial, along the parade route.
“It’s Day One, we’re saying, of a larger era of resistance, and we believe we’re going to send a very powerful message to Trump and the government,” said Ben Becker, 33, an organizer with the group.
Trump supporters also flooded into the capital, many sporting baseball caps bearing his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
One of them, Kathy Williams, 54, a Veterans Administration hospice nurse from Cleveland, said she woke up around 4 a.m. to be at the event. Trump, a real estate developer and former reality TV star, is expected to be sworn in at midday (1700 GMT).
“God is taking our country back because Donald Trump is going to put God back in our country and let Christians be equal with everybody again. I support our military, that’s why I voted for Trump,” said Williams, who called herself a “Gun- and bible-carrying God-fearing Republican.”
Reuters.