Thread by @jennygathright

Proud Boys are marching through Freedom Plaza. Some holding up the white power symbol. Chanting “f*** antifa” and “USA”

Here at the National mall. The crowd is smaller than freedom plaza, but they just cheered loudly for Alex Jones, who is speaking at the moment

“Stop the steal” chant at the National mall

BLM Plaza is blocked off. It seems like police are trying to separate anti-Trump demonstrators from pro-Trump ones. Here, a Trump supporter pleads with officers to let them into the plaza.

Pro-Trump people chant “Whose plaza? Our plaza!” at 17th and I. Police won’t let them in to Black Lives Matter plaza. Anti-Trump demonstrators are in the plaza.

In BLM plaza. Police opened the entrance at Connecticut once the proud boys and Trump supporters demanding to be let in moved on. When pro-Trump ppl tried to enter, demonstrators chased them out.

Wanted to add a bit more about BLM Plaza to this thread. A local coalition of activists called #DefendDC say they will be at the plaza all weekend, protecting the plaza as a space to fight for racial justice. And there's been a lot of scrutiny towards MPD's response to this.

“[Police] seem to be mostly targeting the protesters and not the white supremacists who are actually bringing the violence,” Anthony Lorenzo Green, a core organizer with BLM DC, told me. @Marissa_Jae and @phscoop have reported on this sentiment, too.
washingtonpost.com/local/dc-maga-…

I'm signing off + back home, so follow my colleague @WhyBlitz - he is out reporting for @wamu885 and @DCist tonight.