Anger spills into street
Protesters describe being ‘fearful’ of president-elect
Protests turn violent in some cities,
Hundreds of people protesting the election of Donald Trump took to the streets in cities across the country for a third straight night on Friday, as police bolstered their forces in the wake of rioting in Portland and Los Angeles.
More than 225 people have been arrested across various cities — at least 185 in Los Angeles alone, The Associated Press reported — amid demonstrations that have included highway blockades, angry chants of “not my president” and a rampage through Portland, Ore.
Police in New York City erected barricades and placed sand-filled trucks in front of Trump Tower, as protesters illuminated by the flashing red and blue of police car lights chanted “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”
In Miami protesters hoisting a banner that read “All oppression creates a state of war” clogged a major thoroughfare. And in Atlanta, protesters marched through the Georgia State University campus and blocked roads.
President Barack Obama, president-elect Trump, and political leaders on both sides of the aisle appealed for unity, even as protests veered into violence.
In Portland, protesters convened for a “heal-in” Friday night at city hall, a day after the protests there had turned violent.
The organizer of the Portland protest, Gregory McKelvey, complained Thursday that plans for a peaceful gathering had been hijacked by selfproclaimed anarchists, including some smashing cars and windows with baseball bats.
But the melee underscored the volatile and unpredictable atmosphere after the unexpected victory by Trump, who has been depicted as a dangerous and erratic leader by many opponents.
The sense of potential crisis was reinforced by clashes that included a video of a 49-year-old man, David Wilcox, being viciously beaten by a group of young men and women in Chicago while screaming phrases such as “You voted Trump” and “Don’t vote Trump.”
For the moment, Portland has emerged as a bellwether for signs on the scope and tone of the protests.
Around 4,000 people took to Portland’s streets at the peak of the demonstration late Thursday, confronting drivers, spray-painting buildings and smashing electrical boxes with baseball bats, said Pete Simpson, information officer for the Portland Police Department.
Protests began early Wednesday in the biggest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — and flared in places from Portland and Seattle to Philadelphia and Richmond, along with cities in red states such as Atlanta, Dallas, Omaha and Kansas City, Mo.
On Thursday, about 600 “antiTrump” protesters marched to downtown Baltimore and blocked streets.