Black-clad activists angry about US President Donald Trump's inauguration smashed store and car windows in Washington on Friday and fought with police in riot gear who responded with pepper spray and stun grenades. About 500 people, some wearing masks, marched through the city's downtown, using hammers to claw up chunks of pavement to smash the windows of a Bank of America branch and a McDonald's outlet, all symbols of the American capitalist system.
The crowd chanted anti-Trump slogans and carried signs with slogans including "Make Racists Afraid Again," a play on the New York businessman-turned-politician's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. The incident occurred about 90 minutes before Trump was sworn in at the Capitol a mile and a half (2.4 km) away. A group of about 50 people were detained by police, and the city's Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that numerous people had been arrested and charged with rioting.