DeploraBall:
Trump lovers and haters clash at Washington DC event
Hundreds
of demonstrators gather to wave placards and shout slogans at the
National Press Club where pro-Trump event was held
Lauren Gambino in
Washington
@LGamGam
Friday 20 January
2017 05.19 GMT
Chaos erupted
outside the DeploraBall on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration
as protesters clashed with supporters of the president-elect.
“Nazi scum!” a
masked man yelled through a police barricade at a woman in a sequined
gown as she defiantly waved her ticket for the event. A woman held a
sign that read “Look, Ma. It’s a racist misogynist” with an
arrow pointed toward the guest line. In response a man flipped open
his suit jacket to show her his shirt, which read: “Deplorable
lives matter.”
Hundreds of
protesters filled the street in front of the National Press Club, the
chosen venue for the DeploraBall, a name inspired by a remark made by
Hillary Clinton, who referred to some of Trump’s supporters as a
“basket of deplorables”. Law enforcement blocked off the street
to cars for the protest on Thursday night. Two rows of police in riot
gear guarded the entrance to the club and much of the sidewalk.
A number of the
ball’s attendees were thought to be associated with the
“alt-right”, a far-right movement in the US that has praised the
Republican president-elect. The event has also revealed friction
within the movement, as the DeploraBall’s organizers distanced
themselves from the extreme elements of the group.
The movement has
come under intense scrutiny following a conference in December 2016
when Richard Spencer, the white supremacist who coined the term
“alt-right”, declared “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail
victory!” and some in the audience gave Nazi-style salutes.
The event attracted
1,000 of the president-elect’s most fervent supporters in an
evening dedicated to celebrating “Trumpism” in the city he railed
against. The dress code, according to the event’s website was
“black tie optional – aka ‘fun formal’ – aka no rules”.
From behind the
police line protesters flashed middle fingers and shouted obscenities
and insults, calling the guests “fascists” and “racists”.
“The red hats are better than white sheets,” one man said. “Watch
your pussies, ladies” a woman shouted at female attendees.
The taunts
occasionally turned to the police. “Who are you protecting?” the
crowd chanted after the police cleared the sidewalk.
An inflatable white
elephant emblazoned with a banner that said “racism” loomed over
the crowd. Protesters in hoods and masks set fire to a pile of
placards in the middle of the street. Another group beamed
floodlights at the top of the building to project the messages:
“Impeach the Predatory President.”
‘Racism’:
demonstrators parade an inflatable elephant outside the DeploraBall
for Trump supporters in Washington DC. Photograph: Lauren Gambino for
the Guardian
Clashes broke out
between Trump supporters, protesters and the police. At each sign of
unrest a crush of reporters and onlookers rushed to the scene as
officers barked at them to move back.
In one skirmish a
man was carried to the sidewalk by police after being struck in the
head with an object lobbed by a protester. The impact was hard enough
that the man began to bleed. After the incident police closed the
sidewalk in front of the press club.
Donald Trump kisses
the hand of his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway at a ‘Candlelight’
dinner to thank donors in Washington DC. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft
Images
“I don’t think
most of these people know what they’re talking about,” said
Daniel, a Trump supporter, who asked that not to use his full name
for fear of being harassed online. “It’s pretty ironic that they
call themselves the party of anti-violence and free speech.”
Sarah Coles arrived
at the protest wearing an rainbow colored “H” pin. She had come
from the White House where she and a group of friends “poured one
out” for Barack Obama and his vice-president, Joe Biden.
Coles said she was
heartened by the show of resistance to Trump. But she never doubted
that America could elect a president who antagonised racial and
ethnic minorities.
“My family is from
Alabama. They lived there in the late 30s and 40s. We’ve seen these
kind of things happening,” said Coles, who is black. “But my
mother told me: ‘The Republic will survive this.’ And I have to
believe her.”
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