MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 - Police and thousands of demonstrators faced off Saturday as protesters lined President George W. Bush's inaugural parade route, booing loudly and holding signs that said "Bush lost" and "Hail to the thief." As the motorcade reached the most strident stretch of the route, Bush's limousine sped up, with Secret Service agents running alongside.
DEMONSTRATIONS WERE HELD throughout the day in what turned out to be the largest inaugural protests since 1973, when tens of thousands of marchers protested Nixon's Vietnam War policies as he was sworn in for his second term. Organizers of the Bush protests anticipated 20,000 demonstrators; police did not release actual numbers.
Although most of the demonstrators were peaceful, if noisy, authorities arrested six people, said Terrance W. Gainer, executive assistant chief of police.
Row upon row of uniformed police held back protesters along the parade route, which extended two miles from Capitol Hill to the White House. Demonstrators were spread throughout the crowd and managed to form heavy clusters in some spots as they jeered boisterously - and sometimes profanely. At one spot near the Ronald Reagan Building, they took over an entire grandstand.
BUSH SUPPORTERS LOOK DEJECTED
All along the way, a largely young crowd waved a motley bunch of signs and placards reading, "Shame," "Mockery of Democracy," and "Silenced Majority." A topless woman protesting for animal rights held a sign in front of her reading, "Bush in, fur out."
Some supporters looked dejected as protesters yelled at Bush's limousine: "Racist, sexist anti-gay: Bush and Cheney go away."
A couple of protesters threw bottles and tomatoes before the presidential limousine arrived, and one hurled an egg that landed near the motorcade, the Secret Service said.
The motorcade sped up at one point, and Secret Service agents had to hop on a limousine's running board to keep up.
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Still, when the motorcade approached a large group of cheering supporters, Bush and wife Laura decided to hop out and greet the crowd.
The crowds of protesters largely dispersed as the rainy afternoon wore on.
Though some police clashed with demonstrators, others walking the crowd-control barriers chatted amiably with the protesters. Police monitoring security check points told spectators, "If you have anything in your bags, open your bags."
The security frustrated even Bush supporters. "Security is tighter than it needs to be," said Rep. Tom Davis, R.-Va., fuming as he waited to be ushered by a barricade.
One sign-wielding demonstrator stood on a rise, mimicking the security efforts. "If you have any thoughts in your head at all, leave them at the barricades," he shouted.
Other protests contained a touch of levity. About 10 people wearing large papier-maché caribou heads were protesting Bush's support of oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled Friday that the checkpoints wouldn't target protesters or violate their rights but said the arrangement "sounds like a logistical nightmare."
ANGER OVER FLORIDA VOTE
Most protesters came out to voice frustration over the contested vote in Florida, where Bush and Democrat Al Gore ended just hundreds of votes apart and a month-long recount of ballots was halted only when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered officials to end their work, which declared Bush winner of the state's decisive 25 electoral votes.
"If he had won clearly, I wouldn't have troubled to come here," said Mack Wilder, a construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., who joined more than 100 others from the state for a five-hour bus journey through fog and rain.
Some demonstrators wore masks and costumes bearing likeness to the five Supreme Court justices.
Some spectators came just to watch the protests.
"We just wanted to get a flavor of this. Considering the guy (George W. Bush) got in, we don't see any supporters," said Sal Campo of Takoma Park, Md.
Campo's friend, Karin Romanenko, corrected him: "Wait a minute, there were some at the Metro stop. They sang 'Hail to the Chief,' but just once."
CLASH IN THE STREETS
Police said they cracked down on a mass of protesters at 14th and K streets after some of the demonstrators started slashing tires. Some 15 to 20 people reportedly were arrested and one officer was reported injured. District of Columbia police Chief Charles Ramsey arrived with what he called strategic reserve forces, five buses of uniformed officers, nightsticks in hand. About 100 officers stood shoulder to shoulder, trying to corral the demonstrators. Police officers in blue riot helmets clash with protesters during a demonstration near the inauguration Saturday. Ramsey told NBC News he had considered calling in the National Guard to help block protesters from the inaugural parade route but decided against it. Several protesters suffered injuries during the clashes with police.
Protester Samantha Knowlding said police were using clubs.
"I was pushed over by a policeman with a baton," Knowlding said. She said she saw protesters being taken away in a bus and that police harassed a group of activists dressed in black, the traditional color worn by activists who consider themselves anarchists.
Earlier, a few officers were hurt after protesters threw bottles at them. One officer was bleeding from the eye, but none required hospitalization.
Patrolling the fringes of protests around the city were 160 lawyers organized by the National Lawyers Guild and the local Libertarian party.
"We're here to observe and make sure that protesters and police respect the rights that both have," said Kat DeBurgh of Washington.
There were also inaugural day protests in Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento, Calif., Tallahasse, Fla., and Northampton, Mass.
MSNBC.com's Alex Johnson, Jon Bonné and Tom Curry, NBC's Fred Francis and Joel Seidman; and The Associated Press contributed to this report.