Melissa Byrne kneels in front of plastic bags stuffed with cardboard and newspaper — meant to resemble body bags — in front of the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

After encircling the White House, blaring their horns and shouting chants from their car windows, protesters went to the Trump International Hotel on Thursday and stepped into the pouring rain to lay “body bags” outside.

More than 20 black bags stuffed with cardboard and newspaper meant to look like the bodies of victims of the coronavirus pandemic lined the sidewalk along Pennsylvania Avenue under the gold-plated sign bearing the president’s name.