Did Donald Trump really refuse to shake hands with a black churchman during his inaugural prayer service?

On Saturday Donald Trump attended a church service at Washington National Cathedral as part of an inaugural prayer service.

A video clip of the event has gone viral, for appearing to show the president refusing to shake hands with a black man, who was a part of the ceremony.

The video shows a procession of clergymen walking by Donald Trump. He shakes each of their hands in turn, but stopped short when it came to the man in question, before continuing the handshake with the clergymen after.

People on the internet are furious:

Others argue that the video clip is being taken out of context:

Another pointed out that the entire video is just a misunderstanding - because Donald Trump has "black friends":

A few argue that it's simple logistics - the man had a sceptre in his right hand, so he couldn't shake the president's hand:

And some are going as far as arguing that the man deliberately busied his right hand because he didn't want to shake the president's hand:

A form of protest, if you will.

So what happened?

It appears that the black man in question is a ’verger’, often called the “Protector of the Procession”. The ceremonial rod he carries is called the verge, which he uses to clear the way for the procession.

As you can see, below, Donald Trump did not shake the hands of another man, wearing the same attire, suggesting that his actions were based on ceremony, rather than ill will.

More: How cartoonists around the world are responding to Donald Trump

More: The CIA aren't happy about Donald Trump's first speech at their headquarters