Liberal activists protesting US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration scuffled with police in Washington on Friday after attempting to block the Republican real estate developer's supporters streaming in for the ceremony.
About 900,000 people were expected to pack the grassy National Mall facing the Capitol, where Trump will be sworn in, as well as the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House and other parts of central Washington.
Protesters organised by a group called Disrupt J20 linked arms at one of the dozen security checkpoints leading to the largest public viewing area for the ceremony, and several were led away by police in riot helmets and body armor.
Organizer Alli McCracken, 28, of Washington, said Disrupt J20 hoped to shut down the checkpoint as a sign of its displeasure over Trump's controversial comments about women, illegal immigrants and Muslims.
A woman holds an anti-US President-elect Donald Trump placard during a rally in Tokyo, Japan, January 20, 2017. /REUTERS
"We have a lot of people of diverse backgrounds who are against US imperialism and we feel Trump will continue that legacy," McCracken said on a gray morning when rain was forecast.
One of the largest anti-Trump protests expected on Friday will be organised by the ANSWER Coalition, a broad-based liberal group, which expects to have thousands at the US Navy Memorial, along the parade route.
"It's Day One, we're saying, of a larger era of resistance, and we believe we're going to send a very powerful message to Trump and the government," said Ben Becker, 33, an organiser with the group.
Trump supporters also flooded into the capital, many sporting baseball caps bearing his "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.
One of them, Kathy Williams, 54, a Veterans Administration hospice nurse from Cleveland, said she woke up around 4am to be at the event. Trump, a real estate developer and former reality TV star, is expected to be sworn in at midday (1700 GMT).
People rally against US president-elect Donald Trump outside Trump International Hotel and Tower at Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York City, US, January 19, 2017. /REUTERS
"God is taking our country back because Donald Trump is going to put God back in our country and let Christians be equal with everybody again. I support our military, that's why I voted for Trump," said Williams, who called herself a "Gun- and bible-carrying God-fearing Republican."
Bikers, potheads
Other groups planning to be on the streets on Friday include Bikers for Trump, who will hold a parade route rally without their motorcycles, and pro-marijuana activists who plan to hand out 4,200 joints to be lit up in violation of federal and local laws.
While Washington will be the focal point of the protests, anti-Trump activists have planned sympathy rallies around the nation and the world.
Thousands of people in New York marched to Trump Tower, the businessman's home, on Thursday night to protest his victory in the November 8 election. Activists in London hung a banner reading "Build bridges not walls" on the city's iconic Tower Bridge on Friday, in a reference to Trump's signature campaign promise of building a wall on the US-Mexican border.
About 30 groups have obtained permits for protests they estimate will attract about 270,000 people on Friday and Saturday, far more than have been seen in other recent presidential inaugurations.
(From L-R) US citizens Omar Tiwana, Tim Ortiz and Donald Goertzen light candles while holding up placards during a protest ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, outside the Manila American Cemetery in Taguig city, Metro Manila, Philippines January 20, 2017. /REUTERS
By far the largest protest is expected to be Saturday's Women's March on Washington, which some 200,000 people from around the country are expected to attend.
The US Secret Service, Washington police and other law enforcement agencies planned to have some 28,000 officers in place to secure a roughly three-square-mile (almost eight-square-kilometre) area of downtown Washington
A Palestinian demonstrator holds placard during a protest against a promise by US President-elect Donald Trump to re-locate US embassy to Jerusalem, in the West Bank near Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, January 20, 2017. /REUTERS
US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said police aimed to keep groups separate, using similar tactics employed during last year's Republican and Democratic political conventions.