Shortly before dark on Saturday, a crowd of several hundred marchers in Washington, D.C., chanted at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Ave. A line of city police watched from behind a metal barricade.
The mood was relaxed compared with protests earlier in the week, as several demonstrators chatted with officers across the fence. “I feel like the tension here has definitely relaxed since Sunday,” said Teddy Wilson, 25, of Washington, one of the protest’s organizers.
Mr. Wilson said a challenge remained for protesters to translate their effort into changes, such as altered police training. “How do we make sure we get these things done?” he said.
The crowd broke up just before 9 p.m., with some demonstrators heading back to the groups still gathered outside the White House. Others strolled along the empty expanse of Pennsylvania Ave., seemingly headed home.
Ty Hobson-Powell., one of the organizers of the D.C. protests with Concerned Citizens DC, said the tenor has changed dramatically over the past nine days of protests.
“The first couple of days, I was coming out here with milk in my backpack and with towels because we were getting tear gassed,” he said. “Now, I’m coming out here with water, just to survive the day and stay hydrated.” Milk counters the effect of tear gas.
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