As protests against police brutality sprung up around the country following the killing of George Floyd on May 25, demonstrators took to the streets of the nation’s capital. Protesters were met with force—rubber and pepper bullets, pepper spray and tear gas, shields and batons. But the protests continue, and community organizations, including several newly formed collectives, are working to galvanize protesters toward sustained action and long-term, systemic change.
Here are some photos from the ongoing protests in Washington, D.C.:
Jenna Ruddock
May 31, 2020 — Protesters gather in Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C.
Jenna Ruddock
May 31, 2020 — As officers equipped in riot gear approach, protesters raise their hands while chanting, “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
Jenna Ruddock
May 31, 2020 — An armed officer scans the crowd of protesters.
Jenna Ruddock
May 31, 2020 — A young demonstrator wearing a gas mask is left standing alone as tear gas temporarily disperses the crowd. He keeps one hand raised while holding a camcorder fixed on the advancing officers with the other.
Jenna Ruddock
May 31, 2020 — Clouds of smoke and tear gas engulf protesters in front of the White House.
Jenna Ruddock
May 31, 2020 — A volunteer rinses the face of a reporter who was affected by pepper spray.
Jenna Ruddock
May 31, 2020 — Protesters, who had been driven back by the use of tear gas, take a knee as lines of police in riot gear approach. The next day, President Trump announces from the Rose Garden that he is “dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers” to Washington, D.C.
Jenna Ruddock
June 2, 2020 — A protester addresses a large crowd stretching for several blocks along 16th Street, just north of the White House.
Jenna Ruddock
June 2, 2020 — Another protester announces plans to march from 16th Street to the Lincoln Memorial, bypassing the White House and the significant military and law enforcement presence gathered there.
Jenna Ruddock
June 3, 2020 — As protests continue and temperatures rise, a number of community organizations focus on collecting donations of water, snacks, hand sanitizer, and masks to distribute freely to those who need them.
Jenna Ruddock
June 3, 2020 — Heavily armed Drug Enforcement Agency officers line Pennsylvania Avenue as protesters march from the White House to the U.S. Capitol. The DEA is one of several federal agencies that have been deployed in D.C. by the Trump Administration in response to the ongoing protests.
Jenna Ruddock
June 3, 2020 — Marchers sit and lie on Pennsylvania Avenue for eight minutes and forty-six seconds, representing the amount of time that the officers reportedly held George Floyd to the ground, suffocating him.
Jenna Ruddock
June 3, 2020 — Protesters by the White House are met by a heavily armed, and sparsely masked, military and law enforcement presence.
Jenna Ruddock
June 3, 2020 — Arianna Evans, an organizer with the newly established group Freedom Fighters DC, speaks to a crowd of seated protesters a block north of the White House as the already significant military presence behind her grows.
Jenna Ruddock
June 15, 2020 — Protesters conduct a sit-in on Interstate 395, a highway cutting across southern Washington, D.C. from Virginia to Maryland.
Jenna Ruddock
June 15, 2020 — A young protester takes a knee on Interstate 395 in Washington, D.C.
Jenna Ruddock
June 19, 2020 — Protesters join numerous Juneteenth marches in Washington, D.C.—some independent, some coordinated—on bikes, roller blades, skateboards, and, of course, on foot.
Jenna Ruddock
June 19, 2020 — Organizers of the Freedom Day March raise their fists in front of the Lincoln Memorial as protesters fill the steps leading down to the reflecting pool.
Jenna Ruddock
June 19, 2020 — A demonstrator waves an American flag bearing the words “We are not free” alongside the names of George Floyd, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, and others.
Jenna Ruddock
June 19, 2020 — Organizers ask protesters to gather in small groups to discuss why they attended the march and their plans for future action. These discussions continued despite a summer rain storm.
Jenna Ruddock
June 22, 2020 — D.C. Metropolitan police move to reopen the two-block stretch of H Street Northwest facing the White House, which has functioned as a gathering place for protesters, locals, and tourists since the beginning of June. The sheer number of police officers and police vehicles used to clear the street reignited tensions between law enforcement and protesters.
Jenna Ruddock
June 22, 2020 — In response to the police activity earlier in the afternoon, protesters begin to gather again between H Street NW and Lafayette Park around 6 p.m. The following morning, President Trump tweeted that any efforts by protesters to create an “Autonomous Zone” in the District would be met with “serious force,” a threat Twitter flagged as violating the site’s terms of use that prohibit abusive content.
Jenna Ruddock
June 22, 2020 — Protesters move to circle the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park while chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, Andrew Jackson’s got to go,” citing Jackson’s anti-abolitionist beliefs and his authorization of the forced removal of Native Americans from the South.
Jenna Ruddock
June 22, 2020 — A U.S. Park Police officer tells a protester to calm down moments after the officer repeatedly struck the fence with his baton.
Jenna Ruddock
June 22, 2020 — As protesters secure ropes around the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park, the U.S. Park Police attempt to disperse the crowd by hitting demonstrators with batons and deploying large quantities of pepper spray. Within minutes, D.C. police arrived to provide reinforcements. President Trump later took to Twitter to threaten aggressive treatment and federal prosecution of any protesters attempting to remove statues in Washington, D.C.