4 stabbed, 1 shot as protests turn violent
Authorities in Washington, D.C., said Sunday that they had arrested a man in connection with the stabbing of four people Saturday night as supporters and opponents of President Donald Trump clashed blocks from the White House.
The confrontation was one of several angry encounters in Washington and in state capitals across the country Saturday as supporters of Trump, incensed by a Supreme Court ruling that further dashed the president’s hopes of overturning the results of the November election, clashed with counterprotesters.
In some places, those confrontations escalated into violence, including in Olympia, Wash., where police declared a riot and one person was shot.
The police incident report on the Washington, D.C., stabbing said officers who were working the demonstrations responded to reports of a fight outside a bar, where they found four people with stab wounds. The Washington Post reported that the bar was being used Saturday as a gathering point for the Proud Boys, a rightwing group known for inciting violence at protests.
A photographer who witnessed the confrontation as he was covering the protests for the New York Times said it occurred after dozens of supporters of Trump, many of whom appeared to be members of the Proud Boys, gathered on the street outside the bar. The photographer, Victor J. Blue, said some of
the Trump supporters shouted and pointed at a Black man who was alone and against a wall.
At least three of the Trump supporters offered to let the man leave and implored the others to let him go in peace. After about a minute, as the man hesitated, more demonstrators closed in and began to punch and kick him, according to Blue and video footage of the confrontation that was shared by the New York Post.
At that point, the man pulled out a knife and began slashing with it as more demonstrators piled onto him. Police officers in
tervened after the man was face down on the ground.
The victims were conscious and breathing when they were taken to a hospital, a police department spokesperson said Sunday. Douglas Buchanan, a spokesperson for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, said Sunday that their injuries were not life-threatening.
Minutes before the stabbings, supporters of Trump tore down a Black Lives Matter banner and burned it on the street, videos on social media show. The flag was removed from outside the Asbury
United Methodist Church, one of the oldest Black churches in Washington, which has stood since 1836.
The church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Ianther M. Mills, said in a statement that the scene reminded him of a cross burning.
“We are a resilient people who have trusted in God through slavery and the Underground Railroad, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement,” he said, “and now as we face an apparent rise in white supremacy.”
Another video showed a sign bearing the Black Lives Matter slogan being torn down from the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. A police department spokeswoman said the authorities were aware of the incidents and were investigating them as possible hate crimes.
A police department spokesperson said that eight officers were injured during the protests Sunday. Two of those officers sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries and were also taken to hospitals, said Buchanan, the Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesperson.
A total of 33 people were arrested in Washington, D.C., from Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning in connection with the protests, mostly for various types of assault, including assault on police officers, according to a police department arrest database.
In videos of a separate clash in Olympia, Wash., a single gunshot can be heard as counterprotesters advance on members of a proTrump group Saturday. After the gunshot, one of the counterprotesters can be seen falling to the ground as others call for help. In another video, a man with a gun can be seen running from the scene and putting on a red hat.
Authorities said Sunday that they had arrested a 25-year-old man from Shoreline, Wash., on a first-degree assault charge, said Chris Loftis, a spokesperson for the Washington State Patrol. Loftis did not release the man’s name Sunday.
Olympia police said there were four arrests and that four officers had been injured, according to CBS affiliate KIRO.