Protests that began in New York City have now appeared in at least ten cities across the nation.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Manhattan on Wednesday night and converged on Trump Tower in Midtown to protest the election of Donald J. Trump as president.
Similar protests happened in several cities across the country, including Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Washington, and at college campuses in California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
Protests in New York erupted in two different areas and swept toward Trump’s signature property.
Bianca Rivera, 25, of East Harlem, described Mr. Trump’s election as something that was “not supposed to happen.”
“We’re living in a country that’s supposed to be united, a melting pot,” she said. “It’s exposing all these underground racists and sexists.”
Protesters took whacks at a Trump pinata and carried signs saying “Dump Trump” and “Not My President.”
This follows a day in which high school and college students in several states left their classrooms in protest. College campuses in California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts all had protests. At UCLA, more than 2,000 students marched through the streets.
Protests were underway Wednesday night in at least ten cities.
It’s unclear what protesters hoped to achieve other than to signal their displeasure with Trump and with the system that led to his election.
Police in riot gear confronted protesters outside Trump Tower and in some other locations, but there was no news of violence or arrests as of 10PM.
"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.
The Electoral College came in for a beating, with many protesters complaining of a system in which Hillary Clinton got more votes, but still lost the election. But the biggest common feature of the protests was calling out the racism behind Trump’s campaign.
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."
Thursday, Nov 10, 2016 · 4:09:20 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner