The “Demand Free Speech Freedom Rally” in Freedom Plaza and the larger “All Out D.C.” counter demonstration in nearby Pershing Park were separated by multiple police barricades and heavy law enforcement presence.

That seemed sufficient to keep the two groups from large-scale altercations during the day, though D.C. police arrested two people in separate instances following the rally. One person was arrested at The Ellipse shortly before 6 p.m. for allegedly stealing a hat with a political slogan on it while making “aggressive statements,” and another was arrested outside the Trump International Hotel after a physical fight broke out, according to police reports from the incidents.

There were also smaller scuffles between members of both sides throughout the day. They largely followed the same pattern: A person associated with one of the demonstrations would head to a space on the margins filled with many individuals from the other group. There would be an exchange of words as more and more people would gather, and journalists would rush over to capture the scene. Then, police would intervene and offer to take away the outnumbered person. People would disperse, until it happened again.

The most tense moments during the day happened when counter protesters stood in front of the police line, after law enforcement had escorted a far-right rally-goer away. While some Metropolitan Police Department officers had canisters of tear gas, they did not deploy them.

“We have two different groups that have pretty different views down here,” D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham told DCist. “Whenever you have that occur, there’s always the potential for something bad to happen.”

The free speech rally was ostensibly about large technology companies censoring people with alternative perspectives. Speakers talked about being kicked off Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, ridehailing apps, and, in the case of speaker Greg Aselbekian, Tinder. (He told DCist he has since used an alternate account to get back on the dating site.)

But it drew counter protesters because of its prominent participants. Many of them are members of the extreme right, including alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos (who spent most of his speech making fun of his fellow speakers, his former employer Breitbart, and journalists who critically cover the far-right), anti-Muslim activist Laura Loomer, and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, who was received like a rock star and bragged on stage that he had invented a more painful form of a head butt.

At Pershing Park, meanwhile, counter protesters danced to go-go music and shared stories about marginalized members of the D.C. community over the microphone in the decidedly shadier park. The “All Out D.C.” coalition includes about 20 local organizations, including Black Lives Matter DC. Counter protester Daniel, who declined to provide his last name, said he was there because of the “Nazis across the street—it’s our job to tell them they’re not welcome.”

Some attendees at the rally would occasionally hold up signs promoting President Donald Trump from the edge of Freedom Plaza, and the counter protesters would get as close as they could to the park to hold up signs with slogans like “White supremacy is white depravity.”

Officers with the MPD and the U.S. Park Police were on the scene. They closed off the streets surrounding Freedom Plaza and Pershing Park. Legal observers with the National Lawyers Guild were there as well, taking notes on interactions between law enforcement and protesters.

Earlier in the day, two masked members of antifa were standing close to the free speech rally and were soon surrounded by participants wearing “Make America Great Again” hats. A U.S. Park Police officer asked if they felt safe, and if they wanted to be escorted back to Pershing Park. They declined.

One of the masked men, who declined to be identified, said he had no plans for an altercation with people from the far right. “You’re not going to get violence out of me,” he told DCist. “I have work on Monday.”

Hours after the rally wrapped up around 2 p.m., MPD officers arrested someone near the Boy Scout Memorial at The Ellipse for robbery and attempted robbery with a potential anti-political bias. According to the police report, around 5:50 p.m. the suspect assaulted two victims while snatching a hat from one of them and trying to steal the other’s hat and “making aggressive statements trying to obtain the property.” The police report describes the hats as black ball caps with “a political slogan printed on the front.” It’s unclear whether the people involved in this altercation attended the demonstrations earlier in the day.

Speakers at the rally told attendees to meet at the Trump International Hotel that evening for buses to a VIP after-gathering connected to the rally scheduled for Saturday night, despite their difficulties securing a venue. Counter protesters showed up too, as did law enforcement.

A man in green and a man clad in black with a bandana on his face scuffled in front of the hotel in one filmed exchange that was shared widely on social media.

According to the police report, officers “were alerted to a fight that had broken out in the crowd. MPD officers gave multiple commands for the crowd to disperse but attempts failed. MPD officers quickly acted and were able to detain [the suspect] who was engaged in a disorderly affray. The other suspect got away and was unable to be identified.”

But the person who was arrested says he acted in self defense. J. declined to provide his full name, which is not listed on the police report, because he says his mother and other family members have been threatened by people associated with the far right.

“At the Trump hotel, a few members of Black Lives Matter DC were surrounded by a group of white supremacists,” J. tells DCist. “I decided to go in to make sure they were safe. One man with a straight pride flag approached us, threatening to assault us.”

J. says the person with the straight pride flag punched him in the face, and he started defending himself when the man in the green shirt “jumped in.” Police intervened and took out their batons, according to footage from the scene.

J. was first cuffed by police, he says, and then uncuffed. He says officers asked for his ID, and when he declined to provide it, he was arrested for disorderly affray, which is considered a form of disturbing the peace under D.C. Code.

Per J., he told police officers who assaulted him, and asked why he was being arrested but they weren’t. “You know who attacked me—they’re standing right there and they’re laughing at me,” J. says he told police. Activists with Black Lives Matter DC also tried to point out the other people who were involved in the physical altercation to officers, according to footage taken at the scene.

“I do believe these charges will be dropped,” J. says. “There’s plenty of video showing I was acting in self defense and many witnesses willing to back up that claim.” He adds that he believes his arrest “just goes to show that the police were not there to protect everyone—they were there to protect the Proud Boys and only the Proud Boys.”

Previously:
Far-Right Groups, Including The Proud Boys, Are Rallying In D.C. This Weekend
An Alt-Right Pool Party Loses Its Pool

This story has been updated throughout, including with information about the two arrests. Lara McCoy contributed reporting.