WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the rallies and protests in Washington on Saturday (all times local):
8:25 p.m.
A day of competing protests in Washington unexpectedly included a group of Black Lives Matter activists who appeared near the stage of a rally intended to support President Donald Trump.
But the momentary tension was defused when a Trump rally organizer invited them onstage and offered one of them a microphone.
The pro-Trump organizer said, “It’s your right to say whatever you believe, and it’s their (the crowd’s) right to let you know what they think about what you’re saying.”
Trump supporters had hoped to bring out thousands to pack the National Mall on Saturday. In the end, hundreds of flag-waving demonstrators did their best to make some noise in support of the president, who had skipped town for the weekend. That rally came after a small morning demonstration by anti-Trump activists near the White House.
Both sides were dwarfed by the juggalos, as supporters of the rap group Insane Clown Posse are known. At the Lincoln Memorial, about 1,500 juggalos staged an all-day rally and concert to protest what they say is class-based discrimination by law enforcement.
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3:40 p.m.
More than 1,000 fans of the band Insane Clown Posse are rallying to protest the FBI’s classification of them as a gang.
The band’s fans, known as juggalos, have gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in a show of strength and unity. ICP is suing the Department of Justice to lift the FBI’s designation of juggalos as a hybrid gang similar to the Crips.
The protesters listened to a series of speakers and musicians amid clouds of marijuana smoke. They chanted “family” and an obscenity about the FBI.
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2:00 p.m.
Hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump are gathering on the Washington Mall for an all-day demonstration and concert dubbed the “Mother of All Rallies.”
By about 1:30 p.m. Saturday roughly 500 people had gathered around the stage near the Washington Monument with organizers expecting thousands to arrive as the day progressed.
At one point, the speaker on stage chided the many media members in attendance, inviting them on stage to film the scene and teasing, “I know you don’t like to show large pro-Trump crowds”
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12:30 p.m.
About two dozen protesters have kicked off a day of diverse demonstrations in the nation’s capital with a rally demanding that President Donald Trump take strong action against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The protesters who gathered in Lafayette Square park across from the White House want Trump to retaliate for Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
Some protesters wore T-shirts that said: “We’re not PUTIN up with it!”
After the rally, the protesters began marching to the nearby home of the Russian ambassador.
A short distance away, a much larger pro-Trump demonstration is starting up on the National Mall.
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2:15 a.m.
A diverse array of protesters is descending on the nation’s capital for what promises to be a raucous day of freedom of expression.
Washington has always been a magnet for protests of all stripes, but Saturday’s lineup is particularly intriguing.
The Washington Mall will hold what organizers are calling “The Mother of All Rallies” in support of President Donald Trump. A short distance away, anti-Trump demonstrators will gather to demand that Trump take stronger action against Russia in response to Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election. And in front of the Lincoln Memorial, thousands of juggalos — supporters of the rap group Insane Clown Posse — will stage a concert and rally to demand that the FBI rescind its classification of juggalos as a “loosely organized hybrid gang.”
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