DCist photographer James Calder was on hand yesterday when U.S. Park Police and Occupy D.C. protesters clashed as police tried to clear part of McPherson Square to check tents for camping material. The pictures he captured are evidence of the tension, emotion and confusion that reigned during the day. more ›

Protesters from Occupy protests from around the country are rallying outside the Capitol Hilton this week while a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors brings together civic leaders from across the nation. more ›

Quite a trio. more ›

On top of the rain, it's looking like an active day of Occupy D.C.-related protests will keep traffic tied up throughout parts of the District today. more ›

"We made it!" The marchers yelled as they crossed Eastern Avenue into the District at 12:30 p.m., soggy, tired and running behind schedule. But their brief moment of happiness was set aside as they kept to marching down Rhode Island Avenue, a few more miles to go until they would reach their welcoming committee. more ›

UPDATE (4:30 p.m.): The AP reports now that the accused is a man, but that the U.S. Attorney’s office is not planning on filing charges against him at this time. more ›

Last night, demonstrators with Occupy DC took a march down to the District's city hall, set up shop in front and removed the D.C. flag, replacing it with an Occupy banner in a show of national solidarity. more ›

With vocal demonstrations, a strike by unionized Verizon workers has officially arrived around the D.C. region. more ›

The fight for D.C. voting rights, self-determination and statehood isn't a young one, and neither are many of the selfless people that have been pushing to end the city's second-class status for decades on end. But two local activists are hoping to change that. more ›

Eight District residents arrested in a number of recent protests for D.C. voting rights and autonomy are headed to trial, while nine others opted to pay a fine after appearing in a D.C. courtroom this morning for a preliminary hearing. more ›

Two people were arrested over the weekend during demonstrations coinciding with the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. more ›

Fresh off a few hours inside a holding cell with 40 of his closest friends, Mayor Vince Gray took to the airwaves this morning, highlighted by an appearance on CNN. more ›

Our Twitter feeds were clogged last night with several tweets like this one, wondering what the deal was with a huge police presence by the Woodley Park Metro station. But not to fear: it's just Hu! more ›

Let's say you want to stage a protest in Meridian Hill Park. Since its part of the National Park system, judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia say that's just fine and dandy -- and you shouldn't even need to obtain a permit to do so. The National Park Service and the Department of Justice, however, aren't necessarily in agreement with that decision. They are considering filing an appeal to the Court's decision, and have until September 27 to do so. more ›

Then check out our sister site Torontoist, who has been all over the Summit like stripes on a zebra. more ›

Because when you have photos of Marion Barry wearing a cape, how can you not publish them? more ›

Activists who favor a proposal to enact a new tax on the wealthiest D.C. residents wrapped the John A. Wilson Building in what they're calling a "Human Safety Net" this morning. The demonstration was organized by the Fair Budget Coalition and Save Our Safety Net, the same groups who earlier this month convinced several D.C. Council members to don superhero capes. more ›

Even though it's been two months now that same-sex couples in the District can legally marry and even longer since the last time a court ruled against a proposed ballot measure on the practice, opponents of marriage equality haven't given up the fight. more ›

Was I a little harsh in my assessment yesterday morning that the IMF/World Bank protesters had gone soft? Nah. The AP reports that eight people were arrested early Saturday morning in an incident at the Washington Circle Hotel in West End. One of the protesters was charged with felony assault of a police officer after cops were called at around 1 a.m. to quell the group, which had entered the hotel and began chanting anti-World Bank slogans. But other than that minor skirmish, this year's vintage of the World Bank protests appeared to be as placid as a possibly pregnant panda. more ›

Some of the everyday Tea Party protesters who descended on Washington last week may well be in favor of D.C. getting full voting rights in Congress, but bigger names associated with the movement are much less supportive. Newly minted Washington Post blogger (and occasional DCist contributor) Dave Weigel was following the Tea Partiers all over town, and he asked former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, lately of FreedomWorks, whether he thought the District of Columbia deserved a voting rep in the House.

"How do you buy the wrong thing by giving up the wrong thing?" asked Dick Armey of FreedomWorks. "The D.C. gun control laws are in violation of the Second Amendment, and they say we will less violate your constitutional rights if you give us what is unconstitutional? This is a city. It's a district. It's not a state. If they really have this concern, let this city return to being part of Maryland. In the marketplace you always trade away what you value less for what you value more."

The Tea Party Express wraps up a whirlwind national tour tomorrow with a rally in D.C. to coincide with the deadline for filing federal tax returns. After a press conference at 9 a.m., the protesters will decamp to Freedom Plaza, where they will host a "People's Tax Revolt" at 11 a.m. more ›

The health care insurance industry is meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel today for its National Policy Forum conference, and reform activists are busy taking to the streets of Washington as a result. A large group has gathered in Dupont Circle to hear from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and other speakers. When that's over, they plan to march to the Ritz-Carlton, so watch out for traffic delays and high pedestrian volume in the area. more ›

Guantanamo protesters may be marching from the White House to the Supreme Court today, but tomorrow is the big 'un, the annual March for Life. The anti-abortion crowd will once again wend its way around the National Mall on Friday as they mark the anniversary of Roe. v. Wade. more ›

UPDATE 3:49 p.m. Traffic is moving again on K Street NW. Police have concluded their preliminary investigation, moved the van out of the street, and cleared the area. more ›

The District has issued revised regulations that increase the amount of time groups promoting events like anti-war protests may place posters around the city, the Examiner reports today. Previously, event-specific posters could only be up for a total of 60 days, but under the new rules, posters may go up anytime before the event, even a year or more ahead of time, with the only limitation being that they must come down 30 days after the event has taken place. The rules also allow for non-event related posters to be displayed for a total of 60 days, according to the Examiner. more ›

DCist spotted this small protest against sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan moving through the streets around McPherson Square a little after 4:30 this afternoon. There looked to about 75 people marching in total, though the number of official police escorts, many of them on bicycles, easily rivaled the protesters' numbers. The marchers were banging drums and chanting, but appeared totally peaceful, so just keep an eye out for related traffic disruptions on your way home this evening. more ›

The video itself is grainy and hard to make out. Here's what the folks at Tastee have to say about its contents:

"We believe inappropriate behavior is what was going on here and that the discrimination allegations are false. In this video, the couple was sitting right inside the restaurant front door pressed up against each other and during their interaction, one was burying her face in the other's breasts. They were asked to tone it down but responded angrily so they were asked to leave. Nothing more - any couple regardless of gender or sexual orienation would have been asked to leave Tastee Diner in the same situation."

More protests, and lots more arrests. The AP says 91 people were arrested outside the White House today after some of them chained themselves to the fence in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. These folks weren't hardcore environmentalists, anti-capitalists or Darfur activists. No, a lot of these were people in wheelchairs who were trying to get President Obama's attention about alternatives to nursing home care for people with disabilities. So did the Secret Service actually lock up a bunch of people in wheelchairs? Thankfully, no: these protesters just got written arrest citations and were not taken into custody. The issue, it seems, is that they lacked the proper permit for a group that large. The protest began after 1 p.m., and we've also received reports that some of those who participated had to be treated for heat exposure. more ›