There are dueling rallies taking place in Washington, DC today, similar to the sort of thing we’ve seen in Portland in the last two years. Today the Proud Boys were holding a “Demand Free Speech” rally featuring several speakers in Freedom Plaza near the White House. Antifa is holding a counter-demonstration called All Out DC. From USA Today:

The Demand Free Speech rally, organized by the a self-proclaimed “chauvinistic men’s group,” numbered around 200.

But they were outnumbered by counter-protesters.More people gathered under trees in Pershing Park, listening to the activists from the other sidespeak about transgender rights and violence against transgender people.

A heavy contingent of police blocked off roads and guarded the barricades separating the two camps.

The space where the All Out DC rally took place was being patrolled by a group of minders who were doing their best to maintain a safe space, i.e. keep out anyone who might be critical of what they were doing. You can see them in action in this live stream. This goes on for two hours but I’ve got it cued up to the minders in action. You’ll see a guy in a black shirt trying to record something on his phone and a group of people are following him and trying to block him.

This goes on for several minutes. It’s kind of mesmerizing to watch. Who is this guy and what is he going to say? It must be pretty devastating if 4-5 people are needed to keep him away.

The Washington Examiner had two reporters on hand including Julio Rojas. In this clip, they are giving him the same treatment. In fact, you can see the guy in the black shirt from the clip above in the beginning of this (top) clip:

I asked #AllOutDC people if they saw the irony in keeping a Mexican reporter out of an event that was marketed as being inclusive.

They didn't respond. pic.twitter.com/gpnu7eEnm2

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 6, 2019

Rojas displayed a sense of humor about all of it:

Honestly I just think the whole thing is hilariously ironic.

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 6, 2019

This speaker at the Antifa rally was leading everyone in a “F**k the cops” chant. The second clip below is Antifa goons in masks harassing a guy in a MAGA hat.

Antifa attacks guy in a MAGA hat by trying to take his camera and throwing a water bottle at him. #AllOutDC pic.twitter.com/UY6imOWmez

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 6, 2019

They did manage to steal someone’s MAGA hat (2nd clip below) which seems to be a major life goal for some of these losers.

Scuffle breaks out after an antifa member steals a MAGA hat from a Asian Trump supporter. #AllOutDC pic.twitter.com/115tC8ZJZG

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 6, 2019

This next clip (top) is the masked Antifa goons chanting “Cops and klan go hand in hand” at the cops, some of whom are black.

Right before I took this video, one of the antifa member slapped my phone out of my hand as they go out into the street. pic.twitter.com/xEvCSpxmRz

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 6, 2019

I really do feel sorry for the black officers who have to put up with the crap coming from these people. This lovely person asks a black officer if the white officer is his “master.” I’m sure he had something to say about that but he remains professional and doesn’t allow himself to be goaded.

Even though the #DemandFreeSpeech rally ended awhile ago, antifa are now heckling police.

One BLM person asked an African American officer if the white officer was his master.#AllOutDC pic.twitter.com/BgGQ2r8xZy

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 6, 2019

Can’t quite tell if this is the same woman but there was definitely a lot of anti-police sentiment out there today from BLM and Antifa:

“While the Nazis may be out here today, the police are in our neighborhood every single day extending white supremacy and anti-Blackness”#MuteTheAltRight #AllOutDC #MuteWhiteSupremacy pic.twitter.com/z8IFimGIuR

— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) July 6, 2019

Some of the masked people were upset at being pushed around by the police:

The cop “keeps throwing people on the f—king ground. I didn’t see you push any of The Proud Boys down”#MuteWhiteSupremacy #AllOutDC#MuteTheAltRight #DontMuteDC pic.twitter.com/bVRfIS31c8

— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) July 6, 2019

Some Antifa goons did get pushed when they tried to rush a police line. Pro tip: Don’t charge at the police or you may wind up on your ass.

Antifa protesters tried to break through the police cordon at 12th Street with Pennsylvania Ave. Quick response by @DCPoliceDept. #DemandFreeSpeech pic.twitter.com/q4EAQHFSYp

— Benjamin Alvarez (@BenjAlvarez1) July 6, 2019

Finally, it’s not an Antifa rally without vandalism and property damage. Cops get their hands on the guys doing this but don’t seem to be arresting them. That seems like a mistake. Still, DC police are a lot more active in dealing with Antifa than their counterparts in Portland.

#antifa causing even more destruction. Why would they destroy their own city? pic.twitter.com/z38By15mk1

— Will Not Comply Witt (@thewillwitt) July 6, 2019

I haven’t seen word of any arrests yet. I’ll update this post if that changes.