Some 217 protestors were arrested, and six policemen sustained minor injuries as violence erupted near newly-inducted United States President Donald Trump’s inauguration parade on Friday. Agitators damaged cars – a limousine was set on fire about a km from Trump’s parade – smashed windows, pelted stones at the police chanted anti-Trump slogans, CNN reported.
The protests had begun before Trump was sworn in as the 45 US president on Friday. The police donned riot gear and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. “Pepper spray and other control devices were used to control the criminal actors and protect persons and property,” police said. Some protesters wore black masks.
There were peaceful protests in some parts, with people gathered and holding up placards that read “Say no to racism” and “Not my president”, The Telegraph reported. However, the largest protest against Trump’s inauguration will be staged on Saturday after more than two lakh women will reach the US Capital for the Women’s March. Protestros in Australia and New Zealand, too, took to the streets in support of the march. Women held up placards that read “Feminism is my Trump card” and “Fight like a girl” in Sydney, Reuters reported.
Anti-Trump demonstrations were held in other parts of the US as well as worldwide. In London, activists put up a banner at the Tower Bridge that read “Build bridges not walls”, referring to Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall along the US-Mexican border. In Mexico, demonstrators burned Trump’s effigies and held up signs that read “Make America human again” and “Love trumps hate”, CNN reported.
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