FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Protests as president delivers address

Protests as president delivers address

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of protesters chanted, marched and played music near the White House on Thursday as President Donald Trump spoke on the final night of the Republican National Convention - a loud and often raucous rejoinder to a leader they say has divided the country and supported racist policies and practices.

Music blasted down 16th Street NW from the Black Lives Matter street mural to the fencing shielding Lafayette Square. Lines of young Black demonstrators danced in formation to hip-hop over the mural. Closer to the White House, a racially diverse crowd jammed to music. A group of young drummers started performing between them in front of a large "Black Lives Matter" cloth draped over the AFL-CIO headquarters building.

As the president delivered his speech, beginning a little before 10:30 p.m., the honking of horns and music from protesters were audible in the Rose Garden and occasionally in his televised address. Just east of the White House, about 100 people with bullhorns, electric sirens, compressed air horns, trumpets and cowbells added to the cacophony. Elsewhere, protesters chanted "Black Lives Matter" and go-go music blared.

Earlier, tempers flared briefly between demonstrators and a handful of supporters of the president. Police moved in to separate the sides, sparking tension between officers and protesters.

The outbursts were short-lived and the demonstration remained largely peaceful. One video posted on social media showed a White man surrounded by protesters with water thrown in his direction before he and several other people fell to the ground.

A Washington Post reporter observed him shortly after 9:30 p.m. standing up with blood on his jaw and a gash by his right ear. A person wearing a medic shirt helped escort the man away from a throng of protesters, one of whom threw water again in his direction.

It was unclear what sparked the confrontation. The Post observed a person with a megaphone and other protesters following him several minutes before he fell. Several protesters later accused him of hitting a Black woman - which he denied.

A little after 8 p.m., a group calling itself "Refuse Fascism" led a crowd of about 150 protesters from Black Lives Matter Plaza toward the Trump hotel, attracting a chorus of honking car horns as they cut through downtown traffic. As District of Columbia police scrambled to block off intersections to allow the group to safely pass, the demonstrators chanted to the beat of a drum. Some invited people eating outside at a restaurant to join them - there wereno takers - while others stopped for selfies.

That prompted a halt to the march and a scolding from one of the organizers.

"Are you kidding me?" a woman shouted into her bullhorn. "People have died and you're stopping for a photo op? We've got to stay focused, people. We've got to move like water."

Carl Dix, one of the group's leaders, said the march was meant to emphasize the urgency behind the election, which he said will determine whether the country takes an irretrievable tilt toward fascism.

Thursday's demonstrations began quietly, as small groups began arriving on Black Lives Matter Plaza a little after 6 p.m., chanting and playing music.

Throughout the summer, the area around the White House has been a focal point for protesters demanding justice and accountability for police brutality against Black people. They called for charges against police officers in the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville and, most recently, in the case of Jacob Blake, who was shot by police in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday and is paralyzed.

Will Adams, a 33-year-old White resident of Detroit, moved up his trip when he learned GOP convention events would be held in Washington.

"When our kids are like, 'What did you do when the world went to s---?,' we want to say we stood up, we did something, we went hard," Adams said. "It's not enough to just be against hate, be against racism. You have to be loud and drown him out."

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