(CNN) A May Day protest in downtown Seattle turned violent Wednesday night with police saying they resorted to pepper spray to disperse demonstrators who pelted them with whatever was at hand.
Seattle Police said the crowd tossed rocks bottles metal pipes fireworks and even a skateboard.
It was not immediately known how many arrests were made.
The clashes came after a day of peaceful marches in the city CNN affiliate KING reported.
People take part in a May Day demonstration in central Athens on May 1 2013. Demonstrators take part in a Labor Day protest against the Spanish government's austerity policies in the center of Madrid on May 1 2013. Indonesian workers wearing ants costumes to depict workers exploitation join a march to the presidential palace in Jakarta on May 1 2013. Police prepare behind a line of barbed wire before thousands of Indonesian workers arrive outside the presidential palace in Jakarta. In Taipei Taiwan over 20 000 workers staged a protest against President Ma Ying jeou's pension reforms. A protestor holds an over sized mask of billionaire tycoon Li Ka shing the chairman of Hutchison Whampoa as hundreds of dock workers take part in a protest over pay and working conditions in Hong Kong. Members of the pro government Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM) attend an official May Day rally in Minsk on May 1 2013. Demonstrators raise their fists during a demonstration in Athens. Tens of thousands of workers and labor activists march through the central business district in Jakarta. Russian communist party activists carry red flags and banners during their traditional May Day rally in central Moscow on May 1 2013. Supporters of the nationalist party Red and Black march in Tirana Albania during a May Day protest demanding the resignation of Premier Sali Berisha. An elderly activist of Russian Communist attend a traditional May Day Communist rally in Moscow. Members and sympathizers of the Hungarian communist party the 'Munkaspart' (Party of Workers) march in Budapest on May 1 2013. Indian members of The All India Trade Union Congress take part in a rally in Hyderabad. A Cambodian worker stands on a vehicle as he attends a march during a May Day protest in Phnom Penh. Demonstrators take part a Labor Day march against the Spanish government's austerity policies in Barcelona on May 1 2013. Contractual and daily wage employees of state government protest for better pay and job security in Srinagar India on May 1 2013. Protestors who defy a Labour Day ban on demonstrations use catapults during clashes in Istanbul on May 1 2013. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 May Day protests around the worldHundreds of thousands of people across the globe take to the streets on May 1 to demand better working conditions during what is known as International Workers' Day.
In Washington on Wednesday two May Day groups with differing views fought in Lafayette Park near the White House police said.
The skirmish between a group calling itself the White Student Union and another the May Day Workers escalated as combatants threw bags of urine and flag poles at each other.
One person was arrested U.S. Park Police said.
We were here to protest communism and to stand up for the blue collar working class. And then I got urine thrown on me said Matthew Heimbach president of the White Student Union. So it shows really how tolerant these people are.
John Zangas who was with the May Day Workers said people were offended by some of the statements from the White Student Union.
I don't even want to characterize them but they're fairly bigoted said Zangas.
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