Thousands of people are expected to converge on Washington Saturday for a large protest, a continuation of days of demonstrations in the city and across the U.S. over the death of an African American man while in police custody.
The chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, Peter Newsham, said police "anticipate numbers that are larger than any of the numbers that we've seen to this point."
Police said they are prohibiting vehicle traffic in much of the downtown area starting at 6 a.m. Saturday, including around the White House, the National Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue.
Metro, which operates the city’s public transit, says it is increasing its capacity in anticipation of a ridership surge.
“There is the potential for significantly higher ridership this weekend,” Metro Chief Operating Officer Joseph Leader told employees in a letter Friday.
Metro had previously limited its train capacity to protect rail operators from interacting with passengers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The protests in Washington and in dozens of cities across America were sparked by the death of George Floyd, an African American man who died in police custody, after a white policeman pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes as Floyd pleaded he could not breathe, the latest of many deaths of black Americans during or after encounters with white officers.
In recent days, the demonstrations in Washington and across the country have been largely peaceful after initially being marred by arson and looting.
“We expect that Saturday’s demonstration will ... be more of the same peaceful demonstrators coming to exercise their First Amendment right in Washington, D.C.,” Newsham said of the Washington protest.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser Friday formally renamed a street leading to the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” after authorizing city workers to paint the slogan in large yellow letters on the street.
Still, the local chapter of Black Lives Matter criticized the mayor’s action as a “distraction from real policy changes.” Black Lives Matter DC said on Twitter “Bowser has consistently been on the wrong side of BLMDC history” and called for city officials to defund the police.
Bowser and U.S. President Donald Trump continued their war of words Friday with Trump saying that National Guard troops “saved her from great embarrassment.”
Trump tweeted Friday “The incompetent Mayor of Washington, D.C., @MayorBowser, who’s budget is totally out of control and is constantly coming back to us for “handouts,” is now fighting with the National Guard, who saved her from great embarrassment.”
Bowser sent a letter to Trump Thursday asking him to “withdraw all extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence from Washington, D.C.”
When asked during a news conference Friday about being called “incompetent” by the president, she responded, “You know the thing about the pot and the kettle?”
The Trump administration was widely criticized after federal authorities fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters outside the White House Monday so that Trump could walk to a nearby church and pose for photographs with a Bible in hand.
The Pentagon Friday said it was ordering active duty troops who were brought to the Washington area to respond the protests to return to their home bases.
Troops brought in from Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Fort Drum, New York have either departed to their home base or are under orders to “depart immediately," according to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy.
The Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the "Old Guard," based in Arlington, Virginia, remains on standby for assistance, McCarthy said, adding that it was the Army's "intention to try to turn that off as soon as possible."
"We've had four peaceful days in a row, projecting a fifth," he said.
About 1,600 total active duty troops were deployed to the Washington region earlier this week to be ready to assist local law enforcement, if needed, amid civil unrest. Their deployment triggered widespread criticism from Washington city officials and activists that their actions are escalating tensions.
The troop presence raised concerns that Trump would invoke the Insurrection Act to allow the military forces to confront thousands of people who have protested nightly in downtown Washington.
Carla Babb contributed to this report
