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One person was shot Saturday in Olympia, Washington, and four people were stabbed in Washington, D.C., as demonstrators clashed with counterprotesters over the presidential election, racial injustice and pandemic restrictions.
All the victims in the Washington, D.C., stabbings were believed to have sustained critical injuries Saturday night, said Doug Buchanan, spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.
Additionally, at least one police officer sustained minor injuries in an unrelated skirmish, Buchanan said. In all, eight people were taken to hospitals for medical attention, he said.
In Olympia a suspect was detained in the shooting, said Washington State Patrol Sgt. Darren Wright, who indicated that pro-President Donald Trump and anti-Trump demonstrators clashed in and around the Capital Campus area, and that some protesters seemed prepared for violence.
“Both sides have heavily armed individuals in the groups,” he said. “We’ve had sporadic confrontations throughout the day.”
Wright said authorities declared an unlawful assembly, leading many protesters to disperse.
Demonstrators in the state capital included Trump supporters, Black Lives Matter activists and people opposed to pandemic restrictions.
