Proud Boys, "counter protesters" clash in Washington D.C.

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Pro-Trump demonstrators, counter-protesters and police clashed in Washington, D.C., on Saturday evening after groups of the president's supporters marched to protest the result of the 2020 election.

Videos and pictures posted to social media depicted what appeared to be groups of Proud Boys, a self-described "Western chauvinist" group, facing off against counter-protesters in Black Lives Matter Plaza. Members of the Proud Boys were dressed in bulletproof vests, according to The Washington Post.

The newspaper reported that people were throwing fire works, causing loud explosions while police in riot gear stepped in in an effort to keep the two groups apart.

Around 5 p.m., the first of many arrests at Black Lives Matter occurred, according to Deadspin journalist Chuck Modi, who noted that the reason for the arrest was unknown.

Police also used smoke bombs to subdue tension rising outside of a D.C. Hotel, according to footage shared from the scene on Twitter.

At least six people were arrested Saturday, but none of those stemmed from COVID-19 regulations. D.C. police have not been enforcing mask rules or issuing fines to social distancing violators, according to the Post.

At least four people were stabbed Saturday night amid post-election protests in Washington, according to the DC Metropolitan Police Department's public affairs office.

DC Fire and EMS transported eight people from the protest area since around 7 p.m.: the four stabbing victims, who were said to be in critical condition, according to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser's office; two police officers with non-life-threatening injuries and two people with minor injuries, the public information office said.

Large groups of protesters and counter-protesters gathered earlier in the day outside the Supreme Court and at Freedom Plaza to protest the presidential election results. Most individuals were not wearing masks.

Black Lives Matter signs that apparently were burned and destroyed at historic Black churches in Washington, D.C., during a pro-Trump rally this weekend are being investigated as possible hate crimes, authorities said Sunday.

D.C. police said they were seeking information about the incidents, which occurred at Asbury United Methodist Church, founded in 1836, and Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, where Frederick Douglass' funeral was held in 1895.

In a statement, Asbury's senior pastor, the Rev. Ianther Mills, said pro-Trump supporters removed a Black Lives Matter sign from the church and "literally burned it in the street."

It wasn't immediately clear what video Mills was referring to. A widely circulated clip on social media purported to show far-right protesters burning a Black Lives Matter sign a few blocks east of the White House.

Another widely circulated video appeared to show protesters tearing a Black Lives Matter sign from nearby Metropolitan AME Church.

Metropolitan posted a brief statement Sunday on Twitter saying, "Black Lives Matter yesterday, today, and always."

NBC Washington reported Sunday that their conditions were critical but non-life-threatening. A man identified as Phillip Johnson, 29, was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the quadruple stabbing, the station reported