Tonight at #BlackLivesMatter Plaza in DC, protesters mocked police putting on riot gear by saying "let's hydrate the pigs" and throwing water bottles at them.
Police responded with tear gas.
The first tear gas canister was right in the center of the crowd, which caused people closer to the cops to go toward the cops to avoid it.
Those lucky people, such as yours truly, had to run back through the tear gas to get away.
At least two different types of gas were used. Some of it was white, but for a moment, the entire area north of the White House was filled with yellow gas.
Protesters tried to use umbrellas to protect themselves from it, which was largely ineffective.
As most of the protesters retreated, one used a lacrosse stick to intercept a tear gas canister and throw it back toward the police.
As protesters retreated, police continued firing non-lethals into the crowd, about a half a block forward.
This was still on #BlackLivesMatter Plaza. The police fired munitions from the "R" in "Matte*r*" to the protesters who were on the "T" as in "Mat*t*er."
Police physically pushed forward using bikes. This moment was a bit of a mess and I was mostly focused on not getting arrested myself, but I believe some of the estimated 7-10 arrests occurred around this moment.
An individual was being arrested and two people tried to come to his aid and were maced.
Police continued firing into the crowd to push them northbound up 16th street, and ultimately held their ground at 16th and I.
Several protesters were injured, and police followed from a distance as they attempted first aid while continuing to retreat all the way to Dupont Circle, where they ultimately dispersed.
Here's my full HD video of the violence that broke out in front of the White House tonight during #dcprotests.
More video from tonight on the way.
I don't want to just focus on the later violence. Let's look at the march from the beginning.
Protesters with the "Abolish the police" march began at the White House, and marched through DC constantly shooting off fireworks.
The activists - led by a shield formation - spoke to outdoor diners at a relatively fancy restaurant called "Le Diplomat."
"Fire, fire, gentrifier!" they chanted at the staff and people eating, before talking about police violence.
"If we don't get no justice, you don't get no sleep!"
At about 11pm, the protesters marched through a few residential neighborhoods, chanting "fire fire, gentrifier!" and "Black people used to live here!"
They used fireworks on lawns and strobe lights to wake people up.
Here's my full video of the "Abolish the police" march that occurred in DC before the tear gas etc. incident at the White House.
Raw copies of all footage available to license. Excited that in fact, ABC7 licensed footage from earlier in this thread.
As a reminder, you can see the full context for every shot in this thread in the livestream:
DOCUMENT THREAD: Four members of the pro-Palestine, left-wing "Turtle Island Liberation Front" have been arrested in an alleged bomb plot after being exposed to at least one FBI Confidential Human Source (CHS) and one Undercover Employee (UCE).
2) The FBI begins their summary of probable cause by saying that their PAID informant (CHS) "has been a reliable source of information since in or around August 2021."
They say the informant was given a handwritten bomb plot titled "OPERATION MIDNIGHT SUN” in November by defendants, but do not detail any conservations that led up to this occurring.
They do not describe how long the group had been exposed to this CHS prior to their alleged escalation into bomb plotting.
3) The group allegedly planned on extensive steps to conceal their participation in the plan, including encasing their phones in bricks before submerging them into water, and using black bloc clothing, which they wrote down and handed to a federal informant in an 8-page document.
The criminal complaint against Brian Cole Jr has been released, detailing the government’s evidence that this Virginia man is the January 5, 2021 pipe bomber.
The evidence basically amounts to three categories:
-Cell phone pings allegedly placing him at the scene
-Purchases over the prior more than a year of materials consistent with the devices
-A vehicle allegedly matching his leaving the area on that night
Notably, while government sources have reportedly characterized Cole as “anarchist,” this criminal complaint does not characterize any evidence related to ideological background or motive.
I also find it notable that the FBI places some of the relevant purchases which they allege were components for the pipe bombs as early as 2019.
While some components were purchased in November 2020 (post election) this timeline would seem to imply he was working on such a device *prior* to the 2020 election being disputed.
Following a "March Against Islamization" in Dearborn, Michigan, pardoned J6er Jake Lang spoke to the city council telling Muslim members "You guys are outbreeding, insidious parasites."
"You will never look like us," he said. "Get the f*** out. America First."
He was ushered out by police as his supporters yelled "Christ is king!"
2) Fighting broke out and mace was deployed on the streets of Dearborn Tuesday afternoon as Jake Lang walked around slapping a pack of bacon into a Quran, which counter-protesters took out of his hands.
"Michigan needs to be cleared out of Muslims!" Lang told the media.
3) Lang attempted to set fire to a Quran, but protesters pulled it away from him before he could light it up. One pointed mace into his face and appeared to trigger it, but it apparently jammed.
Lang accused responding police officers of being "here to enforce Sharia Law."
VIDEO THREAD: Protesters gathered outside the Portland ICE facility again Sunday afternoon, where they were forced back by federal agents firing pepper balls outside the front entrance as vehicles went in and out.
"I've literally had spicier breakfast burritos!" one yelled following munitions fired at a person in a dinosaur costume. "How's it feel to have your munitions beaten by a f***ing umbrella?"
2) Agents continued to fire sting balls to clear the entrance. "We're moving man," one replied over a loud speaker. "You're shooting us as we are moving!"
A prisoner transport vehicle left the facility with multiple people apparently detained inside.
3) A man in an "America First" hat had a sign apparently taken by an anti-ICE protester, which he said had touched him previously. It was grabbed back from him.
VIDEO THREAD: Border Patrol agents were followed by activists through the suburbs of Chicago on Friday as they continued their "Operation Midway Blitz" deportation effort.
Tensions escalated in Park City to the point of an agent pointing a weapon into the car of a protester with children in the back, although he abstained from firing.
2) In the town of Skokie, one landscaping worker was taken to the ground and arrested by Border Patrol in the Sokie neighborhood.
He was taken away in an unmarked vehicle with a “Chinga la migra” sticker on the front.
3) "If I see you without your unit, I'm gonna beat the f** out of you, motherf***er" a protester yelled out from a vehicle at Border Control Commander Greg Bovino.
"Who said that?" asked Bovino, handling his bodycam apparently to ensure the capture of the scene.
(quote confirmed with another journalist who caught the sound better)
DHS, using a violent felon as an informant who they say "may be assisting law enforcement in the hopes of future payment" has charged alleged Latin Kings member Juan Martinez with soliciting the murder-for-hire of a law enforcement official in "Operation Midway Blitz."
2) According to the feds, Martinez, going by the name "monkey****" wrote on Snapchat “2k on info cuando lo agarren,” or “$2,000 on information when you get him" and "10k if u take him down."
3) While the complaint calls the alleged victim "a senior law enforcement member of the Border Patrol Operation Midway Blitz," Chicago Tribune says a source identified the alleged target as Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino.