Scores of demonstrators charged with rioting in the District on Friday were well organized, ready to confront police and prepared to violently disrupt the inauguration, according to some of the protesters and organizers.
Details of the disturbances in a four-square-block area downtown that led to more than 230 arrests began emerging after protesters made their first court appearances Saturday, a process that continued through the evening as defendants were brought into D.C. Superior Court in batches of 10. Most faced a felony charge of rioting, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
The preparation undertaken by protesters included arriving armed with hammers and crowbars, police said in court filings that also said officers moved in to make arrests after windows were broken on storefronts and a city emergency vehicle, and a parked limousine was set on fire shortly before President Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.
Before protesters took to the streets, leaders of an umbrella organization for the demonstration operated a detailed website, designated a media spokesman, had “street” medics to tend to injured demonstrators and said in news releases that the group included protesters who were willing to be arrested.
The group protesting in the District was accompanied by a volunteer lawyer from Colorado who was among those arrested, court records show....
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