This story was last updated at 9:36 p.m.

As Washington woke up on Sunday morning, the alarm was still going off at a Michael Kors store in Georgetown. Mannequins lay scattered on the floor of a looted Kate Spade store. Discarded water bottles and glass shards littered the city’s streets. One didn’t have to look far in downtown D.C. to see fresh graffiti. One message on a building in Lafayette Park asked: “Why do we have to keep telling you black lives matter?”

Amid the remnants of a long night of both peaceful rallying and at times violent clashes with police over the death of George Floyd, neighborhoods in D.C. were largely quiet as many went about their weekend routines: getting coffee, walking the dog and washing their cars.

Downtown, where much of the protest took place, police were still stationed about every other block. Some businesses that were broken into remained wide open. At others, crews were removing broken glass, covering up graffiti and cleaning up the streets.

“We certainly recognize and empathize with the outrage that people feel following the killing in Minneapolis last week. And we certainly empathize that the killing of George Floyd wasn’t the first, and that people are expressing outrage and demanding action,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a midday press conference. “We also recognize that we are proud of our city and we do not want our city to be destroyed.”

Tensions between law enforcement and protesters escalated into the night and early hours of the morning. Lafayette Square and areas north of the White House were the main flashpoints, though chaos also spread elsewhere.

At a midday press conference, officials say a small group of people did most of the damage and looting.

The Metropolitan Police Department announced they had made 17 arrests—14 charged for rioting, two for burglary and one for assault—the night before.

Bowser and D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham praised the peaceful protests during the day and condemned a “small number” of people who were setting fires, looting business and attacking officers later in the night and into the morning. Newsham said five of those arrested were not from D.C. and four others had no address.

More protests are expected Sunday afternoon, including one starting at 2 p.m. at 2600 Sixth Street NW that plans to head to the White House. Bowser says there will be no curfew since it will likely not be followed. Protests have gone into the early mornings for both of the past two nights.

Last night, the mayor and other city officials surveyed the damage around 3 a.m.

“We saw a beautiful downtown D.C. still standing,” she said, adding that she also spoke to business owners. “Their emotion and reaction ranged from sadness to empathy to anger, but they all were resolved to clean up and get their business back to work.”

Most businesses stood unharmed. And for some, life continued on with some semblance of normalcy on Sunday as the city enters its third day of reopening under what the mayor has called “stay-at-home lite” orders. People were getting pastries at a Dunkin’ Donuts near Metro Center next to an iPhone repair store that had been broken into. Runners and walkers surveyed the damage, posting photos to social media. A woman got her photos taken by a professional photographer outside the former Carnegie Library, turned Apple Store that was looted last night.

Business owners react to the damage

A number of retail stores and other businesses were damaged or looted downtown, at the high-end City Center DC complex, and in Georgetown.

The National Park Service also reported “numerous instances of vandalism” to sites around the National Mall, including the World War II memorial.

At the Oval Room, an upscale restaurant near Lafayette Square Park, owner Ashok Bajaj says that every window was destroyed, along with some doors inside the restaurant. On the outside of the building, protesters spray-painted: “the rich aren’t safe anymore.” Further down Pennsylvania Avenue near 20th Street NW, Bajaj’s restaurant Bindaas was damaged as well, and he says some liquor was stolen after a few windows were shattered.

“It’s unfortunate what happened last night. People have the right to protest, but don’t destroy the properties. It’s no fault of the businesses,” says Bajaj.

Near Farragut Square, Brent Park, the owner of the Park Place Gourmet deli, surveyed the damage to his business and warned passersby to be careful.

He estimated that repairs will cost more than $10,000 but the first glass company he called was too busy fixing other buildings in the area.

Dan Simons, owner of Founding Farmers, said his restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue had several broken windows, but he supported the message of the protest and urged everyone to read Ibram X. Kendi’s book, “How To Be An Antiracist.”

“If America’s leaders (and citizens) listened to @Kaepernick7 when he peacefully communicated, maybe violent communication wouldn’t be necessary,” he tweeted. “The rage is justified. I would rather it be expressed peacefully, but if I need to ‘suffer’ some broken property, let’s be real, that isn’t suffering. Our restaurant is open, we are serving guests right now on a lovely patio, in lovely weather.”

Ellen Kassoff, co-owner of Equinox near Farragut Square, says the restaurant is closed again after only about 24 hours after reopening. In a tweet, the restaurant called the damage along Connecticut Avenue “heartbreaking,” and said the restaurant community was “being pushed to a limit beyond comprehension.”

As she assesses the damage, Kassoff told DCist that it was important not to forget the message of the ongoing protests.

“I don’t want that to get muddled,” she said, adding, “This is a 400-year issue.”

Protesters broke windows at Dolcezza Gelato & Coffee location in City Center — aside from the Hirshhorn location, the only one of the regional chain’s eight locations that had not reopened. “It’s just glass and glass will be replaced,” co-owner Robb Duncan said, adding that the protests were about “much more than a … broken window.”

“They’re demanding change, and thank goodness. We need change,” he said.

The WilmerHale law offices near 18th and H streets were also damaged, according to an email sent to staff and obtained by DCist.

Some windows were smashed, and the building was spray-painted. A few office security team members were on-site at the time and didn’t suffer any injuries — however, they “cannot say no one was hurt,” the email reads.

“Apart from our sadness at seeing these physical scars on our professional home, we are all hurt by the grave injustices that led to these protests — none more so than people of color in our community, who face these injustices in large and small ways every day,” wrote co-managing partners Susan Murley and Robert Novick.

After the damage last night to several downtown businesses, the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington is encouraging its members to consider pausing outdoor services today, according to President and CEO Kathy Hollinger.

This weekend marks the first time in nearly two months that restaurants are allowed to seat customers outside after D.C. entered its first phase of reopening on Friday.

The District Department of Transportation also took action Sunday, deactivating and removing scooters from the streets in order to prevent their misuse. It appeared some were used to break windows last night.

Police chief calls for peaceful protest

The police say a dramatic shift took place after 4 p.m. Saturday when a small group of protesters started slashing tires and spray painting three U.S. Secret Service vehicles. Later in the night, they started throwing incendiary devices at officers, Newsham said. Then the small group started to set small fires in trash cans and in three vehicles, and looting followed, according to his account.

Several agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police and the D.C. National Guard were active in the response. About 60 Secret Service officers were injured over the past two days and 11 taken to the hospital, the agency said. In a tweet, the Secret Service said bottles, fireworks, bricks, rocks and other items were thrown at officers and they were also kicked, punched and exposed to bodily fluids.

Newsham said MPD used pepper spray and rubber bullet-type “sting balls” in response.

D.C. Fire and EMS said last night that they transported seven people to the hospital, though a spokesperson could not immediately say how many were protesters or law enforcement.

Eleven MPD officers had non-life-threatening injuries, and one officer had to have surgery on his leg after a protestor threw a brick at him, Newsham said.

“D.C. welcomes peaceful protest, but we can’t have people come in and destroy property and hurt people,” Newsham said, asking for peaceful action tonight.

He’s also asking businesses in the Central Business District to review security footage to help “identify people that hurt others and destroyed property.”

More arrests are coming, he said.

Across the country, videos showed police escalating the situation in some places.

A reporter asked if Bowser thought Metro police had escalated the situation. Bowser said an after-action report will be released at a later time.

Bowser again calls out the president

During a Sunday morning appearance on Meet the Press, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she hoped for calm tonight.

“We’re sending a very clear message to people that they have a right to exercise their First Amendment rights, but not to destroy our city,” she said. “We saw a level of just destruction and mayhem among some that was maddening. Our crews are out right now cleaning up our city and we are working with all of our law enforcement partners to ensure calm in our city.”

Bowser said the president had a responsibility to “help calm the nation,” adding that he could start by refraining from “divisive” tweets. It was the second day in a row that Bowser had sharp words for the president, saying his comments hearken to the nation’s segregationist past and violence targeted at civil rights protesters.

And she acknowledged the pain visible at the protests. “What you see in cities across our nation, what we saw last night [is] people who are angry and people who are hurting, and some not doing it in ways that are helpful to our cause, but we still have to acknowledge that hurt and that anger,” she said.

The mayor also said she is concerned about mass gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, which is very much still ongoing in the Washington region. She urged those who attend protests to consider whether they need to isolate from their family members or get tested.

At yesterday’s protests, some people wore masks but others did not. Some told DCist and WAMU reporters they were trying to maintain social distance from other protesters, but many people stood close together throughout the night.

“We’ve been working hard on not having mass gatherings for 8-10 weeks,” Bowser said. “As a nation, we have to be concerned about a rebound.”

This story has been updated with additional detail from city officials and business owners. 

Chelsea Ciruzzo and Colleen Grablick contributed reporting.