This doesn’t seem to be getting as much attention as the nightly activity in Portland and Seattle but protests in Washington, DC got destructive last night and 41 people were arrested:

D.C. police cordoned off a large section of Adams Morgan for hours late Thursday and early Friday and arrested 41 people. Two officers were injured.

A video shot by a protester shows Metropolitan Police Department officers pinning a man to the ground, and a man told News4 that officers used pepper spray on him.

Thirty-eight of the people arrested face felony riot act charges. Another three people are accused of assaulting an officer.

DC police said they only arrested people who were “engaged in rioting behaviors.”

There is a difference between peaceful protestors & individuals destroying property or setting fires. Yes, MPD did make numerous arrests last night but only of those that were engaged in rioting behaviors.

— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) August 14, 2020

The police also posted some photos of damage done in the area:

We facilitate daily peaceful demonstrations in DC. Overnight, intentional fires were set & property destroyed. When this occurs, our members have a responsibility to take action.

At this time, 41 individuals were arrested for Felony Rioting & Assault on Police Officer offenses. pic.twitter.com/GbpWxYMjXm

— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) August 14, 2020

Here’s video of one of the arrests last night along with some photos of the scene.

Here's what the scene looked like in Adams Morgan last night during protests that flared up. @DCPoliceDept say they made arrests, but we still don't know how many.

MORE PHOTOS: https://t.co/HHgjrIEtX4 pic.twitter.com/b5Btec9ZVf

— ABC 7 News – WJLA (@ABC7News) August 14, 2020

Townhall reporter Julio Rosas had video of protesters trying to block a police van containing people who’d been arrested as it attempted to leave the scene. These people are putting their bikes (and themselves) in front of the van and then screaming at the police who are pushing them back out of the way.

Tensions have flared after protesters turned into agitators after they tried to block the DC van that was filled with people who were arrested in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. DC police had to push away the people who were blocking the road. pic.twitter.com/TRs68Cy6WS

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 14, 2020

This appears to be another angle on the same incident:

A crowd shouted and tried to block a D.C. police van and officers moved a group of demonstrators from 18th Street NW. One woman was taken into custody during the clash. pic.twitter.com/s2XSR4gjXf

— Clarence Williams (@nu1wcf) August 14, 2020

Rosas also highlighted a couple of other moments from last night. The first involved a black man who got in an argument with protesters after he defended the police. “They protect us,” the man said.

“They gotta go,” a protester replied.

This argument is pretty interesting because the protester (in the “hustle” shirt) is arguing that police violence is the priority while the other man argues that it’s not primarily police who kill people. “People kill people,” he said. The protester replied, “I understand that but we’ve got to take care of this first and then we can handle that.”

You can get with this or you can get with that.

The obvious problem with this argument is that crime, including murder, is already on the rise around the country as police are pulling back. So you can’t defund or disband police and then deal with crime by everyone else later. It doesn’t work that way. It’s making the situation worse and the guy in the ball cap is absolutely right about that.

The second clip below involves a black resident who thinks the protests are doing more harm than good.

The other moment was when a black woman voiced her frustration because she was unable to get to her husband since he was in the area where police were arresting people. She said defunding the police was a bad idea, adding the protesters were doing more harm than good. pic.twitter.com/wK7WWkQp0Y

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 14, 2020

Update: There’s a small crowd cheering as those who were arrested last night are released.

Getting toward the end. At least 4-5 ppl left who haven’t been released. No one is leaving until last one #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/iUj8A6ClzN

— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 14, 2020