‘Not my president’: Thousands protest Trump in rallies across the U.S.

Demonstrators around the country hit the streets on Nov. 9 to protest the election of President-elect Donald Trump. Protests were reported in major cities including New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles. (Victoria Walker, Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
Nationwide demonstrations against the election of Donald Trump spilled into a second night Thursday with thousands of protesters surrounding his buildings in New York and Chicago and clashing with supporters of the president-elect in some areas.

Condemning Trump's litany of crude comments about women and his attacks on immigrants, demonstrators marched along city streets, blocked intersections, burned effigies and, in some places, gathered outside buildings bearing Trump's name.

“Not my president,” chanted some of the protesters, while others waved signs with the same message.

Portland police said that the protests in the city had turned into a “riot” punishable as a “Class C Felony” late Thursday. The department had earlier warned that some drivers were being attacked during the demonstrations and advised protesters to stop the use of “illegal fire devices.”

“Due to extensive criminal and dangerous behavior, protest is now considered a riot. Crowd has been advised,” the police officials said in a Twitter post.

The protests earned recriminations from Trump, who met with President Obama at the White House Thursday morning, “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!," Trump said on Twitter.

It was his first comment about the protests and one of few statements he has made since claiming victory over Hillary Clinton early Wednesday morning. In 2012, after Obama was elected to a second term, Trump tweeted: “We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!”

At least 100 people were arrested Wednesday night during the first wave of national protests, according to police officials, most of them at one in New York. While most of the demonstrations remained peaceful, police in Oakland, Calif., said a rally there turned violent when some in the massive crowd injured three police officers by throwing rocks and fireworks at them.

The unrest underscored the fractures in a country that awoke Wednesday to learn that Trump had pulled off an unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, and more were planned for the weekend.

Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq who has been an outspoken critic of Trump, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that protests are happening “because of the fear, because of the concern, because of the intimidation” created by Trump’s election. “We appeal to the surrogates of Donald Trump and to him, himself, that he needs to take the first step to make sure that the concerns that are being addressed,” Khan said.

Demonstrations started 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. But they continued Thursday evening, spreading to Baltimore where police said about 600 “anti-trump” protesters marched to the downtown area and blocked streets. Two protesters, they said, were held but not charged.

Most of the major demonstrations took place in urban centers in blue states Clinton won Tuesday, highlighting the demographic divide that shaped the election results.

Clinton's apparent narrow victory in the popular vote, coupled with her loss in the electoral tally, spurred demonstrators in New York to chant, “She got more votes!” as thousands massed in front of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday night. The crowd stretched several blocks down Fifth Avenue.

Before that, protesters had marched from Union Square to Trump's building, chanting, “Donald Trump, go away! Sexist, racist, anti-gay!”

At one point, demonstrators lit an American flag on fire. Later, amid a cacophony of loud chants, a glowing “Love Trumps Hate” banner was held aloft under the Trump Tower sign. The singer Cher mingled in the crowd, doling out hugs.

Police in New York said about 65 people were arrested during the first night of protests, mostly for disorderly conduct or resisting arrest...