APAC
JANUARY 20
By Jonathan Landay, Scott Malone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Black-clad activists among hundreds of demonstrators protestimg today's swearing-in with police a few blocks from the White House, in an outburst of violence rare for an inauguration.
At least 217 people were arrested in the melees, police said.
The burst of civil disorder followed a fierce presidential campaign that ended in a contested victory and left the country divided.
In the violence, knots of activists in black clothes and masks threw rocks and bottles at officers wearing riot gear, who responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades as a helicopter hovered low overhead.
At one flash point, a protester hurled an object through the passenger window of a police van, which sped away in reverse as demonstrators cheered. Earlier, activists used chunks of pavement and baseball bats to shatter the windows of a Bank of America branch and a McDonald’s outlet, all symbols of American capitalism.
Multiple vehicles were set on fire, including a black limousine. A knot of people dragged garbage cans into a street a few blocks from the White House and set them ablaze.
Police said six officers were injured in scuffles with protesters. The people arrested would be held overnight , Peter Newsham, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, told a news conference. Newsham added that police would continue to monitor security around the night’s celebrations.
----- sorry, this was four years ago.
JANUARY 20
By Jonathan Landay, Scott Malone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Black-clad activists among hundreds of demonstrators protestimg today's swearing-in with police a few blocks from the White House, in an outburst of violence rare for an inauguration.
At least 217 people were arrested in the melees, police said.
The burst of civil disorder followed a fierce presidential campaign that ended in a contested victory and left the country divided.
In the violence, knots of activists in black clothes and masks threw rocks and bottles at officers wearing riot gear, who responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades as a helicopter hovered low overhead.
At one flash point, a protester hurled an object through the passenger window of a police van, which sped away in reverse as demonstrators cheered. Earlier, activists used chunks of pavement and baseball bats to shatter the windows of a Bank of America branch and a McDonald’s outlet, all symbols of American capitalism.
Multiple vehicles were set on fire, including a black limousine. A knot of people dragged garbage cans into a street a few blocks from the White House and set them ablaze.
Police said six officers were injured in scuffles with protesters. The people arrested would be held overnight , Peter Newsham, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, told a news conference. Newsham added that police would continue to monitor security around the night’s celebrations.
----- sorry, this was four years ago.
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