Enlarge / Airbnb mentioned it’ll refund friends who had booked stays in DC subsequent week and reimburse hosts for misplaced revenue. (credit score: Bonnie Jo Mount | Washington Put up | Getty Pictures)

On January 9—three days after supporters of President Trump began a riot on the US Capitol—Sean Evans determined it was time for motion. Evans had seen a put up on Nextdoor about neighbors working into hostile Trump supporters the night time of the riot, resulting in a verbal altercation that had left residents of his nook of Northwest DC on edge. Now, rumors flew on-line that the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden would carry extra protesters and extra armed violence to the streets of his metropolis. “I don’t need them in my neighborhood,” Evans thought to himself. In reality, he did not need insurrectionists within the metropolis in any respect.

So on Nextdoor, Evans requested his neighbors to cease renting out their properties through Airbnb and VRBO. Just a few hours later, one other neighbor devised a hashtag: #DontRentDC.

Individually, a bunch referred to as ShutDownDC gathered 500 volunteers to message DC space Airbnb hosts. The group despatched messages to the managers of three,400 properties within the area—well mannered ones, in keeping with ShutDownDC organizer Alex Dodd. The messages alerted the Airbnb hosts to an upcoming menace and requested them to please chorus from reserving anybody of their houses within the days surrounding the inauguration.