The violence followed days of back-and-forth between the Metropolitan Police Department and government officials as to whether to close the historic park.

The National Park Service (NPS) has closed Dupont Circle Park in Washington, D.C., for the weekend as WorldPride comes to town. The NPS said this week that they would close the area important to the D.C. LGBTQ+ community and then said they would let it stay open for the Pride festivities, before finally closing it last night.

The Metropolitan Police Department responded to several incidents of vandalism to Pride decorations in recent days.