More than 200 arrested as anti-Trump protests erupt at inauguration

Masked protesters carrying anarchist flags smashed windows and scuffled with riot police on Friday in downtown Washington, DC, blocks away from the route of the parade in honour of newly sworn-in President Donald Trump.

Police arrested at least 217 people over acts of vandalism committed on the fringe of peaceful citywide demonstrations held against Trump's inauguration. Protesters also set fire to a parked limousine.

Just before the parade was due to begin, clashes broke out between 400 to 500 stone-throwing protesters and riot police, who responded with tear gas - the second violent flare-up in the space of a few hours.

Earlier on Friday, masked youths emerged from crowds of peaceful protesters to kick over trashcans and smash windows of stores, a bank and a fast food outlet.

Two police officers sustained minor injuries as the fast-moving group whipped down several streets just a few blocks from the White House.

An AFP reporter saw National Guardsmen donning riot gear as protesters blocked traffic and set fire to trash cans, chanting "Not my president" and "We resist President Trump."

As the 70-year-old Trump, his supporters and top dignitaries gathered on the National Mall for the swearing-in ceremony, throngs of anti-Trump protesters converged on the US capital. 

Protesters and police alike said the black-clad violent activists were acting independently of organised opposition to Trump.

Most of the protests - including those by an array of anti-racist, feminist, LGBT, pro-immigration, anti-war and marijuana legalization groups - were peaceful.

During the election campaign, some of his rhetoric was interpreted as racist and anti-immigration. 

The Disrupt J20 group on Twitter said its anger was not directed only at Trump and that it would also have demonstrated had Democrat Hillary Clinton won the election last November.

Not far from the White House, Bob Hrifko, a member of the Bikers for Trump group, was struck in the face with an aluminum chair when he tried to intervene in a scuffle involving police and protesters.

"I know, law and order and all that. We need more order. This ain't right," said Hrifko, who was bleeding from a cut under his eye.

The number of people who turned out for the midday swearing-in ceremony in the rain appeared to be significantly smaller than the estimated 2 million who attended Democrat Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009. Overhead video of the National Mall showed sections of the white matting laid down to protect the grass were largely empty.

Trump supporters Chris and Karen Korthaus, who carried a life-size cardboard cutout of the former reality TV star, crossed paths with an anti-Trump crowd.

"A protester came over and ripped off the Don's head," Karen Korthaus said as she showed a reporter a video of the incident. "We ran to a pizza shop and taped his head back on."

Along the stretch where the rioters had smashed windows, workers cleaned up the debris.

"We're just working, and the next thing you know, violence is coming our way," said Edwin Garcia, 26, a cook at an Au Bon Pain where three windows were shattered. "What was the point if they never got to where Trump is?"

There were also protests around the world.

In Tokyo, several hundred people, most of them expatriate Americans, protested against Trump. In London, activists draped a banner across the British capital's iconic Tower Bridge reading "Build bridges not walls," a reference to Trump's promise to wall off the US-Mexico border. But in Moscow, Russians hoping Trump will usher in a new era of detente with their country, celebrated his inauguration.