Thousands Across Nation Take To Streets To Protest Trump Presidency
NEW YORK — Protesters took to the streets Wednesday, Nov. 9, in at least ten cities to march against president-elect Donald Trump – and numerous college students and faculty leaders took to social media to announce support groups and even postponed exams.
Protests were underway in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., St. Paul, Minn. and several other cities. An estimated 2,000 protesters shouted angrily in downtown Seattle, expressing their frustration at the Trump victory over Democrat and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who won 228 electoral votes to Trump’s 279.
Police in riot gear struggled to hold back scores of protesters in some of the cities as protesters chanted “Not My President” and “No Racist USA.” The protests were mostly peaceful. Seattle police said they were investigating a report of a shooting near the site of the protest in that city, but it may not have involved protesters.
In Los Angeles, protesters poured into the streets near City Hall and torched a giant Trump effigy, the Los Angeles Times reported. Later in the night, hundreds marched onto the busy 101 Freeway which brought the highway to a complete standstill. The California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department —who urged protesters to remain lawful and peaceful — responded and were seen leading demonstrators away from the busy highway. At least 13 people were later arrested, LAPD Officer Tony Im told the Los Angeles Times.
In Washington, D.C., hundreds took to the streets carrying signs saying “Nasty Women Fight Back” and “White Males for Equality for All.”
The unrest culminated when two separate anti-Trump demonstrations converged in front of the Trump International Hotel. They chanted and yelled “Impeach Donald Trump” and toward the end yelled at police officers who stood guard at the hotel entrance.
In New York, thousands of demonstrators blocked off streets around Trump Tower near the busy intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, chanting “hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go” and “p—y grabs back,” a reference to taped conversations of Trump making lewd commentary about women. One woman protester was topless while another climbed on top of a tree to see the activity. Taxis, city buses and passenger vehicles stood at a standstill.
“We’re (mad) so we’re out here in the streets,” said demonstrator Omar Aqeel, a 27-year-old film producer who lives in Brooklyn.
While he and other demonstrators said they were aware that protests could not reverse the election, they said they still felt it would have an effect on the future.
“I hope it rallies everyone together as a wake up call,” Aqeel said.
“I think there’s a chance for impeachment at the end of the day,” said protester Joey Henriquez, a 22-year-old student at the City College of New York, who lives in Manhattan. “We can’t let him have eight years.”
In Boston, thousands of anti-Donald Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting “Trump’s a racist” and carrying signs that said “Impeach Trump” and “Abolish Electoral College.”
n Chicago, several hundreds of protesters gathered near the Trump International Hotel and Tower to express their displeasure with the president-elect.
The protesters held signs with messages such as “Love Trumps Hate,” “Not My President ” and expletive-laden repudiations.
Source: USA Today