Friday morning through early afternoon, anti-Trump and anarchist rioters calling themselves #DisruptJ20 took to the streets of Washington D.C. to protest Trump’s inauguration. Their protest took several forms, from blocking entrances and freeways, to violence in the forms of vandalism, destruction and throwing concrete at police officers. While many in the media expressed dismay at the violence, some still justified the violence as a legitimate form of protest, including one Washington Post reporter.
As rioters downtown were hurling chunks of concrete at police officers, the White House condemned anti-police violence in a new post on its website. Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery expressed outrage on Twitter, claiming it didn’t “acknowledge” “legitimate dissent:”
Note no acknowledgement of any legitimate dissent. Those protesting are "rioter," "looter," or "violent disrupter," according to Trump
— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) January 20, 2017
Even claiming that this policy would inspire “Zimmerman-like vigilantes.”
given the context, hard to read this as anything but a call for more George Zimmerman-like vigilantes pic.twitter.com/XaWPO5y9k5
— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) January 20, 2017
But the worst tweet came in response to Democratic Congresswoman Claire McCaskill, after she condemned the violent riots. Lowery responded that the riots were very much American, even comparing them to the Boston Tea Party:
Nothing is more unAmerican than protesters who are not peaceful. Disgusting.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) January 20, 2017
The participants in the Boston Tea Party would likely beg to differ https://t.co/DsxII9elS9
— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) January 20, 2017
