A familiar group of Black Lives Matter protesters were spotted on Washington, D.C.’s streets Friday night.
Several known Portland activists and the “snack van” known from Portland’s BLM protests had made it all the way from Portland to Washington, according to social media journalist Brendan Gutenschwager. The “snack van” can be seen in videos moving alongside protesters as they went down D.C. streets.
Do my eyes deceive me?
All the way from Portland, Oregon – the Black Lives Matter Snack Van has gone coast to coast, pulling into downtown Washington, DC #BlackLivesMatter #Portland #DC pic.twitter.com/sFFSsEhYnA— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 29, 2020
From the Portland Riots to our nation’s capital, the Black Lives Matter Snack Van manages to find its way out every night #DCProtests #DC #BLM pic.twitter.com/vxHImAJYkB
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 29, 2020
The “snack van” served as a centerpiece in downtown Portland for providing daily food, water and medical supplies to hundreds of protesters.
In July, Portland police had attempted to disable the support vehicle by slashing its tires. (RELATED: ‘No Thanks’: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler Denies Trump’s Offer To Send Federal Aid Amid Riots)
#portlandprotest day 37 pic.twitter.com/UYBA9iHiWk
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) July 5, 2020
“The same bucket drummer from Portland is out here in DC as well,” Gutenschwager said in a tweet.
The same bucket drummer from Portland is out here in DC as well #DCProtests #PortlandProtests #DC pic.twitter.com/R03WLHOuJ3
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 29, 2020
Gutenschwager reported on his social media that “nobody from D.C.” was leading the march and when the crowd was asked if there were any locals there, “nobody came forward.”
Protesters have indicated nobody from DC is leading this march. A woman asked if there’s any locals here, in hopes of having some come to the front line, but nobody came forward. Have seen out-of-staters from New York, Utah, Oregon and Wisconsin in the crowd. #DCProtest #DC
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 29, 2020
Many of the protesters had been demonstrating in Rev. Al Sharpton’s March on Washington Friday afternoon and continued their protesting on D.C. streets into the night.
On Friday morning, Washington-based radio host Chris Plante had a caller who told him that her sister had just flown from Seattle to Baltimore and recognized some of the Portland protesters on her plane. She overheard them talking about getting balloons filled with feces and urine.
According to The Washington Post, the protesters spent their time on Friday afternoon and into the late evening blocking streets throughout Washington:
At various points in the late afternoon, protesters blocked the Key Bridge, the Whitehurst Freeway, M Street in Georgetown, and the ramp to Interstate 395 from South Capitol Street during the evening rush hour. Often, they received gestures of support from motorists trapped in the sudden gridlock.
Carrying a banner with the words “Total abolition for total liberation,” a group of about 75 people walked down Constitution Avenue toward Ninth Street. They hoped to block the entrance to the Ninth Street tunnel, to “choke the city,” one protester said.
It was one of several efforts seeking to block major entrances to the city to show those who converged on the nation’s capital earlier in the day that “radical organizing isn’t tourism,” said one protester with Freedom Fighters D.C., who declined to be named.
Gutenschwager documented the growing crowd filling the streets of downtown D.C.
With rain subsiding here in DC, the number of protesters is growing as they march the streets past midnight #DCProtests #DC pic.twitter.com/LDJ55BT8Cw
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 29, 2020
At one point during the night, the protesters walked right into cars, shouting “Out of your cars, and into the streets!”
“Out of your cars, and into the streets!” It’s not just the houses & apartments facing calls from protesters to get out & march – cars stopped in traffic are being ordered to move or march #DCProtests #DC pic.twitter.com/R8OsqMZfbN
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 29, 2020
A quick dance party after protesters shut down this intersection, with many of the stopped cars honking in solidarity despite the disruption #DCProtests #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/baaq57USDR
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 29, 2020
Drivers tried to back away from the protesters as they pursued them.
The protesters made their way into residential areas including D.C.’s Logan Circle neighborhood trying to wake up residents.
Protesters are making their way through residential areas like DC’s Logan Circle neighborhood, chanting as they try to wake up residents along the march route #DCProtests #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/ZPtYls5O7k
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 29, 2020
In a video captured by Daily Caller’s Jorge Ventura, a man wearing a shirt with “Portland” written on it was arrested early Friday morning as GOP convention attendees exited the White House.
Not sure what happened but this man was just arrested near where the #RNC guests were exiting,
“I did not touch that guy man” he yells pic.twitter.com/h6nK8gEhFJ— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) August 28, 2020
“He has a long criminal history in Oregon and appears to have traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the anti-police protests there,” Ngo wrote on Twitter.
Update: Confirmed to be Anthony Paul Harrington, of Portland. He has a long criminal history in Oregon and appears to have traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the anti-police protests there. #PortlandRiots #DCRiots pic.twitter.com/dw6YngZ23H
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 28, 2020
On Thursday night, Gutenschwager had captured the widely seen video of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his wife harassed and threatened by a violent mob as he was leaving the White House during the final night of the Republican National Convention. (RELATED: Kelley Paul Describes Her And Rand Paul’s Encounter With Protesters: ‘The Most Terrifying Moment Of My Entire Life’)
Rand Paul just got chased by a crowd back to his hotel, after leaving the White House from Trump’s Republican Party Nomination #DC #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/h1kPcZG1jh
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 28, 2020
President Donald Trump decried D.C.’s handling of the protesters while at a New Hampshire rally Friday night.
“These incredible people from all over the country, all over the world last night, they walked out to a bunch of thugs. And that wasn’t — remember this — that wasn’t friendly protesters, they were thugs. They were thugs,” Trump said.
He called out D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for her poor handling of protesters outside the White House. (RELATED: ‘We Would Not Be Here Today’: Rand Paul Credits Police With Saving His Life After Attack In Washington)
“The mayor should be ashamed of herself for that kind of a display of incompetence, because that’s what’s happening in Portland, that’s what happens all over where you have Democrat-run cities,” he said.
