Amid boarded-up downtown businesses and increased “anti-scale” fencing around the White House, hundreds gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza to rally and await the results of the 2020 presidential election Tuesday.
The rally unfolded relatively peacefully throughout the afternoon and evening except for a few scuffles, but as crowds were dispersing shortly before midnight, a group of several hundred protesters began marching elsewhere throughout the city.
WTOP’s Alejandro Alvarez reported that this group consisted of “black bloc” protesters, who tend to be more radical and often conceal their identities. He said the protesters launched flares as they wound their way through the streets, many carrying black umbrellas to shield their faces from the cameras.
Earlier in the afternoon, it was a very different scene as hundreds of people, including members of Shutdown DC And Black Lives Matter DC, gathered around the White House. Alvarez said the event was not a coordinated rally. Rather, people were mostly waiting for the election results and watching coverage of the races on projection screens that had been set up at Black Lives Matter Plaza and McPherson Square.
Alvarez noted that many organizers said they would wait until the results were in before deciding what to do next.
At times the mood was festive, with people dancing and singing, but frustrations were also on display.
Gabriel Pietrorazio — one of the University of Maryland student journalists covering the elections for WTOP — spoke to Don Folden, founder of Capital Buddy Tours, who said he hopes the political divisiveness ends after the 2020 election.
“What I’m trying to do is get people to stop hating each other because they disagree,” he said. “It’s interesting because some of the people who hate each other like the same music. They have a lot of things in common, but they only focus on what they don’t have in common.
“This division, this hatred – it’s got to stop.”
By the time Alvarez returned to the BLM Plaza around 1:30 a.m., he said about 100 people were still milling around, including members of the media. But with the presidential race essentially in a dead heat and inconclusive, the mood was far more somber than it was earlier in the day.
The go-go truck is still jamming at McPherson Square, but most who’d been with it are taking a break from partying to watch the results on an outdoor screen tuned to CNN. Also here, a giant inflatable figure of Trump as a chicken. pic.twitter.com/UDXVG6Ouka
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) November 4, 2020
People unfurled a big banner reading “Trump lies all the time” at H and 16th covering about a third of the intersection. Nearby, a group of dancers. Somebody has a projector shining @ABC’s election coverage onto an office building. pic.twitter.com/Sv338uwrmd
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) November 4, 2020
#NOW: The first polls are starting to close on election night, and a crowd is gathering in downtown D.C. outside the fenced-off northern approach to the White House.
Protests are likely to stretch into the late night. Organizers are stockpiling water, food and medical supplies. pic.twitter.com/yVfDokBbmB
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) November 3, 2020
Nearby at K and 15th, @LongLiveGoGo’s protest block party continues with a heavy police presence. I’d say the crowd downtown boasts a few hundred people at the moment, but it’s doubled in coverage area with some leaving the plaza to follow the band. pic.twitter.com/IjwYXBFiiS
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) November 3, 2020
People are telling me there was a brief scuffle at the intersection of K and 16th, two blocks north of the White House where a go-go band had been playing on a flatbed. Didn’t see it, but police surrounded their truck and escorted it down the street. pic.twitter.com/ac8KD5Rgxn
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) November 3, 2020
At the White House, Alvarez reported that parts of the newly enforced fencing had posters on it warning against ticket scalping and underage drinking.
More thick metal fencing went up overnight, said to be scale-proof and enveloping the rest of the White House grounds that weren’t already walled off by the Lafayette fence. Swallows a stretch of the sidewalk on 15th 17th and Constitution. pic.twitter.com/S4X5HsVnwf
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) November 3, 2020
This is a developing story. Stay with WTOP for more details.
