The Women's March on Washington, a gathering expected to be the biggest demonstration near President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, has received a permit to hold the event, Washington, D.C. police said Thursday morning.
The organizers of the march, set to be held one day after the inauguration on Jan. 21, estimate there will be 200,000 participants, the Washington Post reported.
Police said the permit has the rally ending near the White House at Constitution Avenue between 15th and 17th streets NW. The march will tentatively begin at Independence Avenue and Third Street SW in front of the Capitol.
The route is complicated because various entities have jurisdiction over certain sections of downtown Washington, and each must provide a permit for groups to demonstrate in their respective sections. The rally was originally set to begin at the Lincoln memorial, but the march's organizers were unable to receive a permit from the National Park Service. The service does not grant any requests until the Presidential Inauguration Committee, which plans inauguration activities, has finalized its own events, the Post noted.
The head of logistics for the Women’s March on Washington, Janaye Ingram, said last week that the group still has a pending application for a permit to march on other National Park Service locations. The organizers are still waiting alongside 20 other groups that have applied for First Amendment permits to demonstrate near the inauguration. They will likely not hear anything until closer to the inauguration, but the Park Service is looking for other areas where demonstrations can take place.
The Women's March on Washington describes itself as an "inclusive event" meant to display solidarity between "women, immigrants of all statuses, those with diverse religious faiths particularly Muslim, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, the economically impoverished and survivors of sexual assault."