After enduring eight years of a community organizer as president, perhaps the chaotic scene outside the National Press Club in Washington DC on the eve of Inauguration Day represented a fitting coda to the Obama era.
NBC’s Washington affiliate was on the scene and reported smoke bombs were set off in the midst of the crowd assembled outside the DeploraBall event:
Reporter Shomari Stone reported live from the middle of the crowd just as a smoke bomb was detonated. Stone was overcome by the fumes and cut off his live Twitter video:
#BREAKING. Smoke devices. I’m at 14th St. & F St. Protesters set off “smoke devices.” Some scream “F- Trump.” #Inauguration #NBC4DC pic.twitter.com/cxyvH3Dv2Z
— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) January 20, 2017
Despite the vivid images depicted in Stone’s report, somehow CNN had a very different description of the same fracas. Their headline, Small protests ahead of Trump’s inauguration evokes a somewhat different scene from downtown DC. CNN’s own reporter, Gregory Krieg, tweeted out photos that showed the size and scope of the protest which contrasted starkly with the CNN description as a “small protest.”
Protests outside the #DeploraBall at Nat’l Press Club pic.twitter.com/wl0i5xZfaG
— Greg Krieg (@GregJKrieg) January 20, 2017
This morning, as crowds gathered at security entrances of the National Mall, protesters chained themselves to barricades to prevent attendees from entering the seating area.
Protesters chain themselves to security fencing near #DC police headquarters #Inauguration #NBC4DC pic.twitter.com/JyJMJdZpih
— Heather Hutchinson (@H2dcphotog) January 20, 2017
Many of the protesters dressed in black clothing with black scarves covering their faces.
#anarchists assemble with the #BlackLivesMatter protesters #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/CUZfHLGwkp
— Heather Hutchinson (@H2dcphotog) January 20, 2017
It’s a familiar uniform known as “Black Bloc” and it’s commonly worn by anarchist protesters to avoid identification by media and law enforcement.
As Ed Morrissey at Hot Air notes, the violent protests (also known as riots) before Trump’s presidency indicate a deeper resentment at the heart of the organized Left that goes well beyond any policies Trump might initiate:
Indeed.
Obama was a community organizer turned President. His campaign apparatus was transformed into an action group called Organizing For America. He referred to his Republican opponents as “enemies” who deserved to be punished and he implored his supporters to “get in the face” of neighbors who disagree with them. After eight years of such rhetoric and divisive tactics, is it surprising to see the “peaceful transition of power” prefaced with smoke bombs, profanity and violence?
