Protesters, Trump supporters clash

Protesters and supporters of President-elect Donald Trump clashed outside a pro-Trump event in Washington the night before his inauguration. Police used chemical spray on some protesters in an effort to control the unruly crowd.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the National Press Club in downtown Washington, where the “DeploraBall” was being held.

The name is a play on a campaign remark by Hillary Clinton, who once referred to many of Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables.” Protesters booed any time presumed ball-goers in suits, tuxedos or dresses came in or out of the event.

In New York, actors Robert De Niro, Sally Field and Mark Ruffalo joined hundreds of other people outside a Donald Trump building on Thursday for a pre-inauguration demonstration organizers said was meant to energize those concerned about the Republican president-elect’s policies.

The event, staged in front of Trump International Hotel and Tower near Central Park in Manhattan, was a rally for city residents who have vowed to pursue their own policies on health care, the environment and other issues during the Trump administration. The mayors of Minneapolis and New York attended.

Civic-mindedness was a theme throughout the evening.

Movie director Michael Moore urged people to regularly call their representatives in Congress. Actor Alec Baldwin, who portrays Trump on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” said Americans wary of Trump’s policies should become more involved.

Baldwin briefly did his Trump impression, which has drawn barbs from the president- elect.

Among the groups that helped organize the event were Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood and MoveOn.org.

Trump is scheduled to be sworn in Friday as the 45th president.