(Published Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017) 
 
 Protests against President-elect Donald Trump took a chaotic turn on the eve of his inauguration as demonstrators set off smoke devices and lit Trump merchandise on fire in downtown Washington, D.C. 
 
 D.C. police officers wearing riot gear formed a wall near 13th and F streets NW Thursday night, after protesters with the group Refuse Fascism converged on the street in front of the nearby National Press Club, where some Trump supporters are attending an event called the DeploraBall. We think the future is bright, if the people’s voices are heard.” 
 
 In Washington, a group made up of hundreds of protesters clashed with police clad in riot gear who used pepper spray against some of the crowd on Thursday night, according to footage on social media. The confrontation occurred outside the National Press Club building, where inside a so-called “DeploraBall” event was being held in support of Trump, the footage showed.
– The anti-Donald Trump protests kicked off as the inaugural events began Thursday night, with at least one protester arrested after a rally near Trump supporters' "DeploraBall" event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. NBC Washington reports that police used pepper spray as they clashed with protesters, some of whom let off smoke bombs and burned Trump merchandise in the street. Protesters chanted "Nazi scum" at DeploraBall attendees, threw trash, and projected slogans including "Impeach the Predatory President" onto the Press Club building, the Washington Post reports. Earlier in the evening, Michael Moore led a protest outside the Trump International Hotel in New York, with speeches from Mayor Bill de Blasio, Robert De Niro, and Alec Baldwin, among others, the Hill reports. "With a lot of work on our part, we will stop this man," Moore promised, calling Trump a "sociopath" who "will not last four years." Authorities say they have plans in place to keep pro- and anti-Trump groups separate during Friday's events. The Bikers for Trump group says it's ready to step in if protesters try to block access to the National Mall during Trump's inauguration. "We're going to be backing up law enforcement. We're on the same page," one of the group's organizers tells Reuters.