Above photo: By John Zangas of DC Media Group
Washington, DC – It’s quiet in DC now after a day of protests, unrest, and property damage along K Street and in some streets just North of there. Scenes of carnage were evident here and there. The burned vehicles were removed. Hundreds were arrested. Things got bad today but not so bad as things have gotten in places like Cairo, Gezi Park or Taksim Square, during changes of government abroad.
Tonight there were some more of the same protests that occurred today with police and protesters clashing-the streets were still littered with debris, trash and remnants of flash bangs-their tell tale white residue from the loud explosions.
Most protesters had gone home by 10:00 pm but a few remained in Franklin Square with a few police watching nearby.
The smoke from the protests today cleared but the smell remained with the streets littered with all kinds of debris and tired police propped up in lobbies of closed buildings-resting.
Today’s “peaceful” change of Democratic government was a fairytale in a way, a myth, and a story of worsening division between people. In some ways it was reminiscent of other cities like Cairo, and Ankara, where change of governments comes with police lines, military deployed in the streets, and unruly citizenry.
There was plenty of that here today. While the National Guard stayed in the background-the fact that they were deployed during a peaceful change of government signifies it really wasn’t truly a peaceful transfer of power.
One scene did stay with me in a positive way. A young 22 year old woman stood holding a flower out to police. The police tried to ignore her. She told me she did it in honor of a young woman she saw in a photo from the 60s close to her age-holding a flower out to police during the anti-war protests.
The new administration came to “drain the swamp” and promised to “make America great again” but I see no sign of anything close to that happening.
But that woman gave me hope for a moment that this division won’t last forever.