Washington, DC authorities said Sunday they had arrested a man in connection with the stabbing of four people on Saturday night when supporters and opponents of President Trump collided with blocks from the White House.
The four were stabbed to death outside a bar on 11th Street and F Street Northwest at around 9 p.m. Saturday, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement. Washington, 29-year-old Phillip Johnson was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, a police spokeswoman said. According to a police report, he used a knife.
The confrontation was one of several furious encounters in Washington and state capitals on Saturday as supporters of Mr. Trump were outraged by a Supreme Court ruling that further demolished the president’s hopes of dismissing the November election results Counter-protesters clashed.
These confrontations escalated to violence in a number of locations, including Olympia, Washington, where police rioted and one person was shot.
The Washington police incident report on the stabbing in Washington said that officials working on the demonstrations responded to reports of a fight outside Harry’s bar on F Street Northwest, in which they found four people with stab wounds. The Washington Post reported that the bar was used on Saturday as a meeting place for the Proud Boys, a right-wing group known for inciting violence during protests.
The confrontation came after dozen of Mr. Trump’s supporters, many of whom appeared to be members of the Proud Boys, gathered on the street outside Harry’s bar. Some of the Trump supporters shouted and pointed at a black man in dark clothing, standing alone and against a wall, according to a journalist who witnessed the confrontation while covering the protests for the New York Times.
At least three of Trump’s supporters offered to let the man go and pleaded with the others to let him go in peace. After about a minute, when the man hesitated, more protesters came closer and started punching and kicking him, according to video footage of the confrontation shared by the New York Post.
At this point, the man pulled out a knife and started cutting it up as more protesters piled on top of him. The man detached himself twice, but was then grabbed and beaten again. Police intervened after the man was lying face down on the floor. Several protesters shouted that the man had a knife and had stabbed someone. The man’s face was puffy and bloody when the police picked him up.
The victims were conscious and breathing when they were rushed to a hospital, a police department spokeswoman said on Sunday. Douglas Buchanan, a spokesman for DC Fire and Ambulance Services, said Sunday that her injuries were not life threatening.
Police identified the men who had been stabbed to be Franklin Todd Gregory of McMinnville, Tenn .; Corey Owen Nielsen of Robbinsdale, Minn .; Jeremy Bertino of Locust, NC; and Gregory Lyons, whose hometown was not released. Police said Mr. Gregory identified Mr. Johnson as the man who stabbed him.
Mr Johnson could not be reached on Sunday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he was still in custody or whether he had a lawyer.
Minutes before the knife wounds, Mr. Trump supporters tore off a banner from Black Lives Matter and burned it in the street. Videos on social media show this. The flag was removed from outside the Asbury United Methodist Church, one of the oldest black churches in Washington, which has stood on the corner of 11th Street and K Street Northwest since 1836.
The Church’s senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Ianther M. Mills, in a statement, said the scene reminded him of a burning cross.
“We are a resilient people who have trusted in God through slavery and the subway, Jim Crow and the civil rights movement,” she said, “now that we are facing an obvious rise in white supremacy.”
Another video showed a sign with the slogan Black Lives Matter torn down by the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church near the corner of 15th Street and M Street Northwest. A police department spokeswoman said the authorities are aware of the incidents and are investigating them as possible hate crimes.
“DC’s faith-based organizations are at the heart of our community and give us hope in the face of darkness,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement on Facebook. “They embody our DC values of love and inclusivity. An attack on them is an attack on all of us. “
The police department spokeswoman said eight officers were injured during the protests on Sunday. Two of these officers suffered serious, but not life-threatening injuries and were also taken to hospitals, said Buchanan, the fire and rescue service spokesman.
According to a police arrest database, a total of 33 people were arrested in connection with the protests in Washington from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, mainly for various types of assault, including attacks on police officers.
A single shot can be heard in videos of a clash in Olympia, Washington posted on social media as counter-protesters advance against members of a pro-Trump group on Saturday, including a person on a sidewalk saying a great Trump waving flag. After the shot, one of the counter-protesters falls to the ground while others call for help. Another video shows a man with a gun running from the scene and putting on a red hat.
Forest Michael Machala, 25, of Shoreline, Washington, was arrested for first degree assault, said Chris Loftis, a Washington State Patrol spokesman, on Sunday.
The Olympia shots came after Mr. Trump’s supporters and counter-protesters gathered near the state capitol on Saturday afternoon and clashed ahead of the shooting.
Olympia Police said there were four arrests and four officers were injured, according to CBS subsidiary KIRO.
Victor J. Blue, Mike Baker and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs contributed to the coverage.