March 25, 2017: Donald Trump inauguration
As you may know if you've perused my website, I thoroughly enjoy shooting protests. Well, Donald Trump's presidential inauguration in January 2017 drew some fervent negative reaction (as was expected). I decided to skip the swearing-in itself to follow the march from Union Station to the area near the White House.
When I disembarked my Virginia Railway Express train that Friday morning, one of the first things I noticed was the plethora of street vendors hawking Trump-related merchandise. I saw these folks when I attended a campaign rally in Fredericksburg, too (photos here).
The dissenters I covered gathered near the Christopher Columbus statue. I'd say at least a few hundred people showed up in that crowd. (I'm pretty sure other demonstrations assembled in separate locations.)
After a couple hours of speeches, people started walking down Massachusetts Avenue. I tried to spend more time photographing spectators than I have in past events.
I'm not sure exactly what happened, but some of the protesters chose violence at some point. This prompted a swift response from nearby security forces including occasional flash grenades and chemical deterrents. The majority of the event was peaceful, though, as far as I could tell.
Vendors, journalists, and even counter-protesters (well, one Trump supporter) showed up. It was quite a scene.
I trekked back to Union Station once the action had slowed to a stand-still and the light started to fade. All in all, I'm glad I went. Here's hoping I'll get to attend another presidential inauguration down the road.
(Click here for full screen shots of the photos in this blog post.)