Members of the group refusefacism.org targeted a reporter with The Daily Caller News Foundation late Thursday evening, destroying personal property in the process.
The group’s protest began Thursday afternoon, the day before President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office. An unnamed member of the organization approached TheDCNF reporter Phillip Stucky, requesting he identify himself. Shortly afterward, the “press liaison” was overheard telling protesters, “That guy’s from a conservative news organization, do what it takes to ban him.”
The protesters quickly answered the call, first by surrounding Stucky, covering his face with anti-Trump signs. Then, members of the group threatened TheDCNF reporter if he didn’t stop filming immediately. When that didn’t work, one member of the crowd threw himself behind Stucky, forcing the reporter to fall backward as he was trying to film the protest.
The protest groups stopped in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in Washington, D.C. There, the group attempted to force the reporter from hearing what a speaker was saying to the crowd by pushing him away from the center. When that didn’t work, one protester grabbed his phone during a Facebook Live recording, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it — shattering the glass.
Another protester punched him, while at the same time yanking a pair of ear buds out of his ear, jerking his head to the side. When he bent over to retrieve the phone, an unknown assailant kicked him, yelling, “Go fuck yourself.”
Members of the DC Metro Police told Stucky that he would be arrested if he continued to attempt to record the proceedings, but backed down from the assertion as long as he remained close to police during the rest of the protest.
The group pledged to “shut down” the inauguration “using any means necessary,” a protester, who went by “Gary,” told the reporter. “We hope to only use nonviolent means, but we are here to make our voices heard.”
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