But the atmosphere later in the day was calmer and largely peaceful, with demonstrators milling about between burnt-out cars and gathering around fires.
Armed with a 130-year-old Flather lathe and a 50-year-old Van Norman milling machine, the pair churn out only 100 reels a year and have a three-year backlog.
In the color and milling about, my eye picks out a basketball-size cloud of pure white puffiness across the floor, a vision that turns out to be a giant Angora rabbit named Alice.