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Voices of the voiceless: 10 days of DC protests for police reform

Alejandro Alvarez | alejandro.alvarez@wtop.com

June 10, 2020, 10:50 AM

Washington, D.C., is no stranger to protest. Whether it be recordbreakers like the original Women’s March, recurring rallies like March for Life or perennial encampments like the White House Peace Vigil, you’d be hard pressed to find a day without at least some group winding between the peculiar blend of brutalist and Greco-Roman architecture that defines the nation’s capital — at least, when we’re not in the midst of a global pandemic.

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis ignited a wave of outrage that took a markedly different and unpredictable path than the hundreds of protests I’ve covered in the District since 2012, the vast majority of which are transient. Within a day or so of the Women’s March, for instance, the city went back to its usual business with no trace of the hundreds of thousands who’d overwhelmed it.

At times, this one felt like a rebellion. One whose effects will no doubt linger in D.C. — physically, socially and politically — not least in its push for police reform, mounting tension between local and federal governance as well as its snap mobilization of local organizers and volunteer-driven support networks.

For 10 days between March 29 and June 8, I covered nearly constant street actions both peaceful and confrontational. These protests will be remembered as a period of stark contrast.

In a matter of days, tear gas and burning vehicles were replaced with ice cream trucks, block parties and free lunch courtesy of D.C. chef Jose Andres. What had been a fiery, largely decentralized release of pent-up anger transitioned into a festival-like celebration of black joy just as quickly as it had come.

In the wake of looting and clashes with police, peaceful marches crisscrossed the city, often with no clear leader or destination. Yet for many who came to frequent the newly-christened Black Lives Matter Plaza, stuck in self-isolation for months watching viral videos of police brutality, that didn’t matter: They just needed a place and a time.

See more of Alejandro Alvarez’s coverage of the protests on his Twitter account. Here are two threads capturing some of the pivotal moments from the protests:

Warning: Photos may contain strong language.

1/26
Hundreds of protesters gather at the intersection of 16th and U streets before a march to the White House on May 29, the District’s first protest over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier that week. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
2/26
Protesters chant at the foot of a U.S. Treasury building at Lafayette Park on May 29, following the arrest of a man for attempting to jump the temporary security barricades blocking access to Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House’s north lawn. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
3/26
Graffiti is seen on a U.S. Treasury annex at Lafayette Park during a protest over the killing of George Floyd on May 29. On the city’s first day of demonstrations, tensions soared between protesters and U.S. Secret Service: Bottles were thrown and metal barricades north of the White House were repeatedly pushed over, while officers charged into the crowd and arrested a man who attempted to climb over their temporary perimeter. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
4/26
Protesters gather along the reflecting pool at the U.S. Capitol building for a second day of protests May 30. For the next week, D.C. would be crisscrossed with marches between the Capitol and White House, some organized in advance and others on the fly. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
5/26
Protesters confront U.S. Secret Service and Park Police officers at the western end of a closed Lafayette Park after pushing over barricades May 30. Secret Service ultimately deployed pepper spray while pushing the crowd back to 17th Street, marking the first significant escalation in clashes near the White House. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
6/26
A formation of U.S. Secret Service wearing riot gear and wielding wooden batons is seen guarding the approach to the White House during a protest May 30. A police charge including pepper spray was met with water bottles and eggs from protesters, staining riot shields with yellow splatter. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
7/26
U.S. Park Police and Secret Service are seen inside a fortified Lafayette Park on May 30 after clashes with police along 17th Street. Lafayette Park, a public area popular with tourists, would be closed for over a week with an overwhelming security presence as the federal government brought in military police to supplement law enforcement. An armored Bearcat vehicle is seen parked near the equestrian statue. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
8/26
An SUV is engulfed in flames at the intersection of I Street and Connecticut Avenue during a bout of vandalism and looting late May 30, spreading to a nearby tree and construction equipment along the sidewalk. D.C. police used stun grenades to clear the intersection of protesters before firefighters moved in and prevented the fire from extending to a nearby office building. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
9/26
A fire rages on H Street in front of Lafayette Park on the evening of May 31 as protesters pull tree branches and drag debris to build a towering inferno, including metal barricades. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
10/26
“We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.” — Malcolm X, 1965. Pictured: A burning dumpster outside Lafayette Park on May 30. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
11/26
The headquarters of the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest conglomerate of trade unions, saw its lobby broken into and firebombed as protests devolved into widespread vandalism and looting throughout downtown D.C. on the night of May 31. Though contained by sprinklers, the fire resulted in over $1 million in damages. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
12/26
As protesters dug in outside Lafayette Park following days of violent clashes with police, donation-driven mutual aid networks were established to provide free food, water, medical supplies and pepper spray remedies. One such organization, Freedom Fighters DC, rose to prominence through the work of volunteers. The supplies pictured on June 1 were collected in under a day. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
13/26
Protesters paint anti-police messages behind a destroyed lawn mower inside a maintenance building on the northern periphery of Lafayette Park on June 1, a night after it was ransacked and burned during violent clashes with Secret Service and U.S. Park Police guarding the White House. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
14/26
After abruptly and aggressively clearing the intersection of H and 16th street of protesters on the afternoon of June 1, various law enforcement agencies, including police from neighboring Arlington County, Virginia, formed a cordon to the north of St. John’s church ahead of a visit there by President Donald Trump. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
15/26
A protester holds a wooden cross outside St. John’s Episcopal Church on June 2, a day following a sudden and violent police operation to clear protesters from the area with tear gas and rubber pellets. Protesters turned out in greater numbers with many citing fury over the level of force police had used a day prior. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
16/26
Members of the D.C. National Guard watch as protesters peacefully march down Pennsylvania Avenue on June 2, with the Trump International Hotel visible center left. After days of looting and clashes with police, protests thereafter remained largely peaceful, owing to a large security presence and a palpable effort among protesters to police their own. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
17/26
Hundreds of protesters hold a “die-in” in remembrance of George Floyd at the Peace Monument beneath the U.S. Capitol building’s west front June 2 after an impromptu march from the White House. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
18/26
Federal prison bureau officers load a riot gun with rubber pellets as protesters peacefully gather near the intersection of I and 16th streets June 3. The Bureau of Prisons later confirmed it had sent tactical units from Texas prisons to reinforce security around the White House complex. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
19/26
Utah National Guard soldiers form part of a riot line north of the White House on June 3, coming face-to-face with protesters questioning their presence outside of federal land following the unexplained expansion of the White House’s security perimeter. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
20/26
On the tenth consecutive day of protests over the killing of George Floyd, protesters hold another “die-in” in the slain Minnesota man’s honor at the newly christened Black Lives Matter Plaza on June 7. Two days prior, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser employed city staff and local artists in the writing of “Black Lives Matter” in yellow paint for two blocks of 16th Street north of the White House. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
21/26
Hundreds of protesters hold a “die-in” for George Floyd on June 7. For almost two weeks after Floyd’s death triggered a nationwide wave of demonstrations, Lafayette Park and the adjacent areas of H and 16th streets became the focal point for thousands in the nation’s capital protesting police violence and racial injustice. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
22/26
A protester joins a march down New York Avenue on June 7. While some protests around Floyd’s death in the nation’s capital were organized in advance, many were organized on the spot at Black Lives Matter Plaza, which effectively became the city’s protest hub. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
23/26
A mosaic of protest artwork is seen on the boarded-up AFL-CIO headquarters, days after its lobby was damaged in a fire during a night of vandalism. Blocks of fencing and wooden boards on businesses essentially acted as blank canvasses for activists and street artists who quickly made the space of 16th street near the White House their own. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
24/26
Hundreds of signs, posters, pieces of artwork, banners and makeshift memorials line the eight-foot fence along the northern periphery of Lafayette Park on June 8. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
25/26
The Lafayette fence and mosaics on nearby wooden boards are examples of protesters repurposing a space as a makeshift museum to document and record their own struggles, frustrations, demands and despair. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
26/26
A man paints a mural on a boarded-up business along lower 16th Street on June 8. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)
Alejandro Alvarez

Alejandro Alvarez joined WTOP as a digital journalist and editor in June 2018. He is a reporter and photographer focusing on politics, political activism and international affairs.

alejandro.alvarez@wtop.com

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