Anti-Donald Trump protesters gather at Vic Mathias Shores in Austin, Texas, for a march through downtown on Inauguration Day. (Photo: AP)

Masked, black-clad protesters carrying anarchist flags smashed windows, lit fires and scuffled with riot police on Friday in downtown Washington, blocks from the parade in honour of the newly sworn-in President Donald Trump. Washington police arrested at least 217 people for acts of vandalism committed on the fringe of peaceful city-wide demonstrations against Trump’s inauguration.

Just before the parade started, 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. As Mr Trump’s motorcade wound its way up Pennsylvania Avenue in the parade to the White House, protesters just a few blocks away set a parked limousine on fire after smashing its windows.