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![<p>Stations have been set up to hand out water and snacks to protesters in Black Lives Matter Plaza on Election Day.</p>](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Image-from-iOS-5-1.jpg)
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![WASHINGTON, D.C., USA - NOVEMBER 3, 2020: A man waves an anti-Trump banner during the 2020 general elections. The USA elect a president and vice president, 35 Senators, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 13 governors of 11 states and two US territories, as well as state and local government officials. Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden are running for president. Yegor Aleyev/TASS (Photo by Yegor AleyevTASS via Getty Images)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229441078.jpg)
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![A man walks past messages on a fence around Lafayette Square near the White House on Election Day in Washington, DC on November 3, 2020. - Americans were voting on Tuesday under the shadow of a surging coronavirus pandemic to decide whether to reelect Republican Donald Trump, one of the most polarizing presidents in US history, or send Democrat Joe Biden to the White House. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229443746.jpg)
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![A demonstrator going by the name Azul Azul sits on a sidewalk outside the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP20308741307662-1880x1254.jpg)
![EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Black Lives Matter Plaza, near the White House, is quiet early on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP20308447842464-1880x1254.jpg)
![WASHINGTON, D.C., USA - NOVEMBER 2, 2020: A police car parked by Lafayette Square near the White House ahead of the 2020 general elections. On Election Day, November 3, the country is to elect a president and vice president, 35 Senators, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 13 governors of 11 states and two US territories, as well as state and local government officials. Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden are running for president. Dmitry Kirsanov/TASS (Photo by Dmitry KirsanovTASS via Getty Images)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229431622.jpg)
![WASHINGTON, D.C., USA - NOVEMBER 3, 2020: A man holds an anti President Donald Trump flag on Election Day. On November 3, 2020, the United States elects its president and vice president, 35 Senators, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 13 governors of 11 states and two US territories, as well as state and local government officials. Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden are running for president. Vladimir Kostyrev/TASS (Photo by Vladimir KostyrevTASS via Getty Images)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229441813.jpg)
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![<p>Stations have been set up to hand out water and snacks to protesters in Black Lives Matter Plaza on Election Day.</p>](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Image-from-iOS-5-1-260x174.jpg)
![<p>A protester wears a costume and holds a sign denouncing President Donald Trump.</p>](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Image-from-iOS-6-1-260x174.jpg)
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![<p>Crowds continued to grow around 5 p.m. near Black Lives Matter Plaza.</p>](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Image-from-iOS-3-1-260x174.jpg)
![WASHINGTON, D.C., USA - NOVEMBER 3, 2020: A man waves an anti-Trump banner during the 2020 general elections. The USA elect a president and vice president, 35 Senators, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 13 governors of 11 states and two US territories, as well as state and local government officials. Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden are running for president. Yegor Aleyev/TASS (Photo by Yegor AleyevTASS via Getty Images)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229441078-260x174.jpg)
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![Demonstrators gather at Black Lives Matter Plaza outside the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP20308743435818-260x174.jpg)
![A man walks past messages on a fence around Lafayette Square near the White House on Election Day in Washington, DC on November 3, 2020. - Americans were voting on Tuesday under the shadow of a surging coronavirus pandemic to decide whether to reelect Republican Donald Trump, one of the most polarizing presidents in US history, or send Democrat Joe Biden to the White House. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229443746-260x174.jpg)
![Demonstrators stop to pray outside the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP20308748339940-260x174.jpg)
![District of Columbia Metropolitan Police stand watch as demonstrators gather outside the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP20308741263653-260x174.jpg)
![A demonstrator going by the name Azul Azul sits on a sidewalk outside the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP20308741307662-260x174.jpg)
![EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Black Lives Matter Plaza, near the White House, is quiet early on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP20308447842464-260x174.jpg)
![WASHINGTON, D.C., USA - NOVEMBER 2, 2020: A police car parked by Lafayette Square near the White House ahead of the 2020 general elections. On Election Day, November 3, the country is to elect a president and vice president, 35 Senators, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 13 governors of 11 states and two US territories, as well as state and local government officials. Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden are running for president. Dmitry Kirsanov/TASS (Photo by Dmitry KirsanovTASS via Getty Images)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229431622-260x174.jpg)
![WASHINGTON, D.C., USA - NOVEMBER 3, 2020: A man holds an anti President Donald Trump flag on Election Day. On November 3, 2020, the United States elects its president and vice president, 35 Senators, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 13 governors of 11 states and two US territories, as well as state and local government officials. Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden are running for president. Vladimir Kostyrev/TASS (Photo by Vladimir KostyrevTASS via Getty Images)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229441813-260x174.jpg)
![Activists opposed to the Trump presidency are dressed as characters from the dystopian "Handmaid's Tale," as they demonstrate at the Capitol on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP20308610391249-260x174.jpg)
![](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Protest1-260x174.jpg)
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.