For the most part, the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump was peaceful. Trump took the oath, gave his inaugural address, Obama left, and now the billionaire real estate magnate who no one thought could win is the 45th president of the United States. Yet, for 217 people, they didn’t want a peaceful transition. They wanted to disrupt the inauguration in any way they could, which meant that the police, who numbered in their thousands for security, had to deploy flash bang grenades and pepper spray to keep the rabble from encroaching on the parade route.
The Media Research Center sent a team to capture the chaos, where rioters vandalized buildings and appear to be armed with crowbars and hammers to cause damage. Regardless, the mayhem was mostly contained by 6:30 p.m. and there was no immediate danger to the president of other high profile attendees at the inauguration. Six police officers did receive minor wounds after rioters threw bricks and other projectiles at them (via NBC News):
President Donald Trump's Inauguration Day was marred by noisy demonstrations, shoving matches and sporadic clashes with cops that resulted in more than 200 arrests.Three-thousand members of local, state and federal law enforcement — backed by 5,000 National Guard members and police officers from as far away as New Jersey — patrolled the streets as the evening's festivities got under way and the legions of protesters still seething over the Manhattan mogul's unexpected victory threatened more disruptions.
Acting Police Chief Peter Newsham said that by around 6:30 p.m. ET things had calmed down, but authorities were still monitoring several groups.
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The worst fracas on Friday erupted in Franklin Square, about a mile-and-a-half from Capitol Hill, just before Trump's swearing-in ceremony got underway, police said.
Six police officers suffered minor injuries when protesters flung bricks, trash cans and other objects, and ignited small fires, Newsham said.
Four businesses were vandalized and sustained "significant damage," he said. Also, demonstrators torched a limousine, police at the scene said.
All of the 217 people arrested on Friday were charged with rioting, Newsham said. And in some cases cops resorted to using flash-bang grenades and pepper spray to keep them from getting closer to the parade route.
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