Black Lives Matter protesters and Antifa agitators marched through Washington D.C. on Saturday and threatened people as they ate dinner, according to video footage and reports.
“Burn it down” is what the demonstrators said. “We are here tonight because black lives matter,” members of the far-left group also said. “Despite black lives mattering, black people are still dying at the hands of the police paid for by our tax dollars.”
Other video footage uploaded by independent journalists on the scene showed Antifa types fighting with police officers, who were trying to keep them away from restaurants. Some, who were clad in all black, could be seen holding the red-and-black Antifa flag.
At one point, police in D.C. were seen forming lines around outdoor diners to separate them from the demonstrators and agitators.
Anti-police protests and riots have been a constant presence in D.C. following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last May.
About 26,000 National Guard members were sent to D.C. to provide enhanced security following the riot on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. Officials later said that about 5,000 Guard members would stay in the city until mid-March.
The Epoch Times reached out to police in Washington D.C. about whether there were any arrests made.
Andy Ngo, an independent journalist who chronicled Antifa’s actions across the United States, told the Epoch Times last week that the notion Antifa is merely an ideology is false. Ngo said the group is “more than an idea. It’s also a movement.” It has networks, while some of them are organized into formal organizations, he said.
Some have noted that the continuation of Black Lives Matter protests and Antifa riots is a signal that there is a growing schism within the American left. Seattle, Portland, and other cities have seen occasionally violent demonstrations after the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joe Biden.
Also in January, demonstrators swarmed and attacked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility—a frequent target during the Trump administration in Portland—which triggered a federal response.
From The Epoch Times