WASHINGTON — A jury on Thursday acquitted six people on charges of rioting and destruction of property connected to violent protests during President Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

The case could have major implications for the government’s strategy for prosecuting more than 150 others charged for their actions that day.

The verdict by a Washington Superior Court jury after two days of deliberations is a setback for the prosecution’s approach to the case. From the start, government prosecutors did not attempt to prove that any of the defendants had personally committed acts of violence or vandalism. Instead, they argued that the entire group of protesters, many of whom wore face masks, was guilty of supporting and providing cover as others smashed windows downtown and set fire to a parked limo on K Street.

The protesters are being tried in small batches in a process that is expected to extend deep into 2018.

ASSOCIATED PRESS