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A supporter reacted during President Donald Trump's Inauguration speech Jan. 20, 2017. Reuters

WASHINGTON -- Patty Chong and Amy Thomson were decked out in red Make America Great Again gear from their hats to their socks, cheering and applauding from the footsteps of the Washington Monument as they watched President Donald Trump be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. By the look on their exuberant faces, you’d have no idea demonstrators were beginning to clash with police in riot gear just blocks away, but that wasn’t going to stop their high energy and positivity during a tense and dreary day in the nation’s capitol.

"The protesters have been nasty, they’ve been deplorable, but that’s one of the most beautiful things about our American democracy: each person is given the right to voice their opinion," Thomson told International Business Times just after Trump was sworn in as president.

The ceremonies brought a small, more reserved crowd than what was present during former President Barack Obama's Inauguration Day in 2008 and 2012: the nearly empty field the two women stood as they watched their 2016 presidential candidate assume power was packed elbow-to-elbow just four years ago. But on Friday Chong and Thomson were only two of a few hundred Trump supporters mixed in with several hundred more Democratic and liberal activists.

And yet the feeling of standing on the precipice of tremendous change throughout the entire country remained just as prevalent as ever.

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Protestors aid each other after clashing with authorities during Trump's Inauguration in Washington, Jan. 20, 2017. Reuters

Chong and Thomson, donning Trump merchandise jewelry and red Make America Great Again hats, stood side-by-side with a group wearing shirts that read "No Trump, No KKK, No Racist U.S.A." as the president delivered what’s being considered his largest call for unity since winning the 2016 presidential election on Nov. 8.

Chong said most protesters and demonstrations she had seen throughout the city were largely peaceful. "We've been everywhere today: the capitol building, the other side of the White House, the national mall," Chong told IBT. "We invite the protesters to join us wherever we are celebrating the 45th president."

Riots broke out near 12th avenue and L and K street in the nation’s capitol Friday, as protesters smashed car windows while being hosed down with pepper spray and exploding gas canisters thrown by local authorities. But throughout Washington, the scene was mostly similar to that at the national landmark: Americans of all shapes and sizes, with varying ideologies and political philosophies, coming together to support a staple of American democracy: the peaceful transition of power.

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A Trump supporter watches the Inauguration near the Washington Monument in Washington, Jan. 20, 2017. Reuters

There was the pro-legalization organization DCMJ, which hosted an Inaugural #Trump420 protest near DuPont Circle Friday morning, handing out over 4,000 free joints to passerby. Organizers told IBT the event wasn’t necessarily a protest on the incoming-administration, but instead a demonstration meant to raise awareness for progressive marijuana policy. Other protests saw tuba players and modern dancing.

As for the protesters who continued to wreak havoc across the capitol, Chong and Thomson had just two words, excitedly shouting the phrase in unison: "President Trump!"

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