Washington: Black-clad activists smashed store windows and blocked traffic in Washington during U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, and fought with police in riot gear who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
About 500 people, some wearing masks, marched through the city's downtown, using hammers to claw up chunks of pavement to smash the windows of a Bank of America branch and a McDonald's outlet, all symbols of the American capitalist system.
The various protest groups scattered around the city chanted anti-Trump slogans and carried signs with slogans including "Make Racists Afraid Again," a play on the New York businessman-turned-politician's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.
The incident occurred about 90 minutes before Trump was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol 2.4 km away.
Police detained dozens of people and said they had charged an unspecified number of people with rioting.
The group of detainees became a flash point after Trump was sworn in, when a crowd of several hundred that had formed to call for their release turned violent, with some throwing bottles and rocks at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
CNN reported that 90 people had been arrested.
Two police officers sustained minor injuries from people who were trying to avoid arrest, police said.
Not far from the White House, protesters scuffled with police, at one point throwing aluminum chairs at an outdoor café.
CROWDS THIN
The number of people who turned out to view the midday swearing-in, on a gray day threatened by rain, appeared to be significantly smaller than the estimated 2 million who turned out for now-former President Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009.
Overhead video of the National Mall showed sections of the white matting laid down to protect the grass were largely empty.
More people were expected to be on hand when Trump and his entourage travelled along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House later Friday afternoon.
Earlier, liberal activists with a group called Disrupt J20 intermittently blocked multiple security checkpoints leading to the largest public viewing area for the inauguration. Several were led away by police.
Disrupt J20 protest organizer Alli McCracken, 28, of Washington, said the group was voicing its displeasure over Trump's controversial comments about women, illegal immigrants and Muslims.