Thousands of protesters took to the streets Wednesday night in at least a dozen of cities across the country to express their anger at Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election.
Demonstrations kicked off in New York City before spreading to Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, Philadelphia, Boston and several other cities.
Police in riot gear struggled to contains the crowds as ten of thousands of disillusioned Democrats marched, united under the rallying cry “Not My President”.
In Philadelphia, crowds of Temple University students burned the US flag:
At many of the demonstrations, people held candlelight vigils, shouted anti-Trump slogans, burned flags and orange-haired effigies of the businessman to air their grievances.
The protests were largely peaceful, but some caused major traffic disruptions and led to arrests.
In New York, an estimated 5,000 people — including pop star Lady Gaga — marched on Trump Tower to protest the real estate mogul’s victory. Protesters attacked Mr Trump’s policies and rhetoric on immigration, gay rights and reproductive rights.
Fifteen people were arrested for disorderly conduct, a NYPD spokesperson said.
Protesters have brought the Mexican flag to wave outside of the tower while screaming: fuck your wall pic.twitter.com/GQ1OJsn1pM
— Zach Stafford (@ZachStafford) November 10, 2016
Thousands take to the streets of NYC, marching to #TrumpTower, chanting #NotMyPresident! #GOPHandsOffMe #StopTrump #TrumpVsAllOfUs pic.twitter.com/0w0qKRwVcn
— K.C. Alvey (@AlveyKC) November 10, 2016
Meanwhile, protesters in Washington DC held a candlelight vigil outside the White House to symbolically mourn the end of Barack Obama’s presidency. Many were carrying banners signs saying “Not my president”, “Nasty Women Fight Back” and “White Males for Equality for All” and chanting “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” as they marched down to the Trump International Hotel.
This is happening in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. right now. pic.twitter.com/1G6UXNE7KO
— Natalie DiBlasio (@ndiblasio) November 10, 2016
An estimated 6,000 protesters gathered In Oakland, California. The demonstrations started at a University of Southern California before rolling on to the rest of the city, where agitators burned orange-haired effigies of the businessman, smashed shop windows and threw missiles at riot police, who responded with tear gas.
A spokeswoman for Oakland’s police department told CNN that several officers were injured and over 24 people were taken into custody.
Fire burning in front of #uber hq, fireworks going off, cops declaring unlawful assembly #oakland pic.twitter.com/W8atehfnzf
— Erin Baldassari (@e_baldi) November 10, 2016
In Oregon, dozens of people temporarily blocked an interstate highway and burned flags. At one point, one Trump supporter was chased down the street by a protester and reportedly smacked in the back with a skateboard before others intervened, according to USA Today.
In Los Angeles, hundreds flooded the streets by City Hall and set on fire a giant head-shaped piñata of the president-elect, while chanting “I will not live in fear” and “fight back, stand up.” Later in the night, protesters shut down the 101 freeway. At least 13 people were later arrested, according to the LA Times.
More than 200 people gathered on steps of Los Angeles city hall protesting President-elect Donald Trump @KTLA pic.twitter.com/ZYJoMn3xVw
— Kacey Montoya (@kaceymontoya) November 10, 2016
Anti-Trump protests also took place in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Boston among other cities, where Hillary Clinton supporters expressed their disbelief at Trump victory’s over the former Secretary of State and career politician, who won a total of 228 electoral votes to her opponent’s 279.
This is the second time in the last two decades that a Democratic candidate has lost a national election to a Republican despite winning the popular vote. The first time was in 2000 when Al Gore lost to George Bush by five electoral votes, despite having received about 500,000 more votes nationwide.
Misogyny has got to go!
Thousand United at the seattle anti trump rally. #seattle #notmypresident pic.twitter.com/49sasRiJ3s— Martha Burwell (@EqualiSea) November 10, 2016
In his victory speech, Mr Trump vowed to “bind the wounds of division” after a bitter election cycle, characterized by scandals and personal attacks.
The president-elect, who has never held elected office, is slated to meet with President Barack Obama on Thursday morning at the White House with his wife Melania to discuss the transition.
