Demonstrators on Wednesday marched in cities across the US to protest against Republican candidate Donald Trump’s surprise presidential election win, blasting his campaign rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims and other groups.
In New York City, thousands filled streets in midtown Manhattan as they made their way from Union Square to Trump Tower, the president-elect’s gilded home on Fifth Avenue, holding signs saying “Love Trumps Hate” and “Trump Grabbed America by the Pussy!”
“The electoral college is broken,” protester Nicholas Forker said of the US indirect voting system. “I think it definitely needs to be reformed.”
Photo: AFP
Hundreds of others gathered at a Manhattan park and shouted: “Not my president.”
In Los Angeles, protesters sat on the 110 and 101 highway interchange, blocking traffic on one of the city’s main arteries in a demonstration that continued into the early hours of yesterday morning, bringing traffic to a standstill.
About 13 protesters were arrested, a CBS affiliate reported.
Photo: AFP
Demonstrators outside Los Angeles City Hall also hoisted a giant, box-shaped likeness of Trump’s head, topped with bright orange hair, and set it ablaze.
An earlier rally and march in Los Angeles drew more than 5,000 people, many of them high-school and college students, local media reported.
A demonstration of more than 6,000 people blocked traffic in Oakland, California, police said.
Photo: AFP
Protesters threw objects at police in riot gear, burned trash in the middle of an intersection, set off fireworks and smashed store front windows.
Police responded by throwing chemical irritants at the protesters, a Reuters eyewitness said.
Two officers were injured in Oakland and two police squad cars were damaged, Oakland Police Department spokeswoman Johnna Watson told CNN.
Photo: Reuters
In downtown Chicago, an estimated 1,800 people gathered outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower, chanting phrases like “No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA.”
Chicago police closed roads in the area, impeding the demonstrators’ path. There were no immediate reports of arrests or violence.
“I’m just really terrified about what is happening in this country,” said 22-year-old Adriana Rizzo in Chicago, who was holding a sign that read: “Enjoy your rights while you can.”
Hundreds also gathered in Philadelphia, Boston and Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday evening. In Austin, the Texas capital, about 400 people marched through the streets, police said.
A representative of the Trump campaign did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the protests.
Earlier on Wednesday, about 1,500 students and teachers rallied in the courtyard of Berkeley High School, in a San Francisco Bay Area city known for its liberal politics, before marching toward the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
Hundreds of high-school and college students also walked out in protest in Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles and three other Bay Area cities — Oakland, Richmond and El Cerrito.
In Washington, several hundred people gathered in front of the White House for a candlelight vigil to decry what they called Trump’s racism, sexism and xenophobia, carrying signs reading: “We have a voice!” and “Education for all!”
Protesters also gathered outside the Trump International Hotel in the nation’s capital and shouted: “Impeach Donald Trump.”
“People are justly frightened,” said one of its organizers, Ben Wikler, director of the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org.
“We are here because in these darkest moments, we are not alone,” he told the crowd, before leading chants of “We are not alone!”
Ethan Miller of the workers’ rights group Jobs with Justice said the Washington vigil was meant to show that civil society was resilient.
“It’s a hard time for a lot of Americans,” he said. “We saw a campaign that was filled with racism and misogyny and a whole host of other terrible tactics that ultimately were successful for winning the electoral college.”
“But we’re not going to let a Donald Trump presidency stop the progress in this country,” he said.
Wednesday’s demonstrations followed a night of protests in the San Francisco area and elsewhere in the nation in response to Trump’s victory against Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
US President Barack Obama was set to welcome Trump to the White House yesterday, the symbolic start of the transition of power.
First lady Michelle Obama also planned to meet privately in the White House residence with Trump’s wife, Melania.
However, issues of transparency have already begun to bubble to the surface.
On Wednesday evening, Trump aides said they would not bring the press corps to Washington with Trump for his meeting with Obama, breaking long-standing protocol.
Additional reporting by AP
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