LOS ANGELES (AP) — A day after Donald Trump’s election to the presidency, campaign divisions appeared to widen as many thousands of demonstrators — some with signs with messages declaring “NOT MY PRESIDENT” — flooded streets across the country to protest his surprise triumph.
Protesters march through downtown along Spring Street during a protest against President-elect, Donald Trump, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 in Los Angeles. A day after Trumps election as president, the divisions he exposed only showed signs of widening as many thousands of protesters flooded streets across the country to condemn him. (Keith Birmingham/The Pasadena Star-News/SCNG via AP)
From New England to heartland cities like Kansas City and along the West Coast, demonstrators bore flags and effigies of the president-elect, disrupting traffic and declaring that they refused to accept Trump’s victory.
Flames lit up the night sky in California cities Wednesday as thousands of protesters burned a giant papier-mache Trump head in Los Angeles and started fires in Oakland intersections.
Los Angeles demonstrators also beat a Trump piñata and sprayed the Los Angeles Times building and news vans with anti-Trump profanity. One protester outside LA City Hall read a sign that simply said “this is very bad.”
A protester holds sign that reads “This is Not OK” during a protest against the election of President-elect Donald Trump, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in downtown Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Late in the evening several hundred people blocked one of the city’s busiest freeways, U.S. 101 between downtown and Hollywood.
City News Service reported that 13 people were arrested as officers in full riot gear walked the protesters off the freeway.
By 1:30 a.m., the freeway was clear of demonstrators but lanes remained closed for cleanup.
Protesters hold signs during a protest against the election of President-elect Donald Trump, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in downtown Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In Oakland, several thousand people gathered in Frank Ogawa Palaza, police said, clogging intersections and freeway on-ramps.
In Chicago, where thousands had recently poured into the streets to celebrate the Chicago Cubs’ first World Series victory in over a century, several thousand people marched through the Loop. They gathered outside Trump Tower, chanting “Not my president!”
Chicago resident Michael Burke said he believes the president-elect will “divide the country and stir up hatred.” He added there was a constitutional duty not to accept that outcome.
Protesters rally outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 in Chicago, Ill., in opposition of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune via AP)
Police said that an estimated 1,800 to 2,000 people participated in the Chicago protests. Police reported five arrests, including two for obstructing traffic, but said there were no major incidents.
Protesters march North on State Street to express their disapproval of the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune via AP)
A similar protest in Manhattan drew about 1,000 people. Outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown, police installed barricades to keep the demonstrators at bay.
Hundreds of protesters gathered near Philadelphia’s City Hall despite chilly, wet weather. Participants — who included both supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost to Clinton in the primary — expressed anger at both Republicans and Democrats over the election’s outcome.
Protesters call for the impeachment of President-elect Donald Trump as they march Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 in Seattle. A day after Trump’s election as president, the divisions he exposed only showed signs of widening as many thousands of protesters flooded streets across the country to condemn him. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In Boston, thousands of anti-Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting “Trump’s a racist” and carrying signs that said “Impeach Trump” and “Abolish Electoral College.” Clinton appears to be on pace to win the popular vote, despite losing the electoral count that decides the presidential race.
The protesters gathered on Boston Common before marching toward the Massachusetts Statehouse, with beefed-up security including extra police officers.
Hundreds also gathered in Providence, Rhode Island, and Portland, Maine.
A protest that began at the Minnesota State Capitol Tuesday night with about 100 people swelled at is moved into downtown St. Paul, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Protesters blocked downtown streets and traveled west on University Avenue where they shouted expletives about Trump in English and Spanish.
Protesters carry a paper head of President-elect Donald Trump during a protest in front of City Hall Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 in Los Angeles. A day after Trumps election as president, the divisions he exposed only showed signs of widening as many thousands of protesters flooded streets across the country to condemn him. (Keith Birmingham/The Pasadena Star-News/SCNG via AP)
There were other Midwest protest marches in Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri.
Marchers protesting Trump’s election chanted and carried signs in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Media outlets broadcast video Wednesday night showing a peaceful crowd in front of the new downtown hotel. Many chanted “No racist USA, no Trump, no KKK.”
Another group stood outside the White House. They held candles, listened to speeches and sang songs.
IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR AVAAZ – Members of the global civic movement Avaaz gather outside the White House on election night to protest against bigotry, Tuesday Nov. 8, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Molly Riley/AP Images for AVAAZ)
In Richmond, Virginia, 10 people were arrested after protesters sat in travel lanes of the Downtown Expressway and refused to leave. Earlier, hundreds had gathered near Monroe Park and blocked the streets near Virginia Commonwealth University with some marchers chanting “No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA.”
Dallas activists gathered by the dozens outside the city’s sports arena, the American Airlines Center.
Over 100 people gather to listen to speakers as they protest President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland, burned American flags and forced a delay for trains on two light-rail lines.
Hundreds massed in downtown Seattle streets.
Many held anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter signs and chanted slogans, including “Misogyny has to go,” and “The people united, will never be defeated.”
Hundreds of protesters march in downtown Seattle as they protest the election of President-elect Donald Trump, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016. A day after Trump’s election as president, the divisions he exposed only showed signs of widening as many thousands of protesters flooded streets across the country to condemn him. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Five people were shot and injured in an area near the protest, but police said the shootings and the demonstration were unrelated.
Back in New York, several groups of protesters caused massive gridlock as police mobilized to contain them under a light rain.
They held signs that read “Trump Makes America Hate” and chanted “hey, hey, ho, ho Donald Trump has got to go.” and “Impeach Trump.”
___
Associated Press writers Robert Jablon in Los Angeles, Olga Rodriguez in Oakland, California, Lisa Baumann in Seattle, Steven Dubois in Portland, Oregon