Anti-Trump protests continue from Portland to New York



NEW YORK (AP) - Demonstrators in both red and blue states hit the streets for a second day Thursday to express their outrage over Donald Trump's unexpected presidential win.

High-spirited high school students marched through San Francisco's downtown, chanting "not my president" and holding signs urging a Donald Trump eviction. They waved rainbow banners and Mexican flags, as bystanders in the heavily Democratic city high-fived the marchers from the sidelines.

"As a white, queer person, we need unity with people of color, we need to stand up," said Claire Bye, a 15-year-old sophomore at Academy High School. "I'm fighting for my rights as an LGBTQ person. I'm fighting for the rights of brown people, black people, Muslim people."

In New York City, about a hundred protesters gathered at Union Square in Manhattan to protest a Trump presidency. They held signs that read "Divided States of America," "Let the New Generation Speak" and "Not My President."

At a subway station along 14th Street, New Yorkers expressed their thoughts along the walls of a walkway using sticky notes - "Time to Fight Back" and "Keep the Faith! Our work is just beginning!"

Late Thursday night, Trump went back on Twitter to take on the protesters who have gathered in cities across the nation since his election. Trump tweets: "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"

 

On Thursday night, several hundred people marched in Michigan, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Protesters, including parents with children in strollers, gathered near Philadelphia's City Hall. They held signs bearing slogans like "Not Our President," ''Trans Against Trump" and "Make America Safe For All."

Twenty-three-year-old Jeanine Feito held a sign reading "Not 1 More Deportation." The Cuban-American Temple University student said she acknowledges Trump as president-elect.

About 500 people turned out in Louisville, Kentucky, to protest the Trump election.

No arrests or violence were reported.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a Democrat, condemned what he called a "very, very small group of people" that damaged property or blocked traffic in a Wednesday night demonstration but said he was proud of the thousands more that peacefully protested.

"I actually thought it was a beautiful expression of democracy. I think it was a marvelous thing to see the next generation of this country get engaged and involved," he said at a news conference, adding that at one time in his life he might have joined them.

As expected, the demonstrations prompted some social media blowback from Trump supporters accusing protesters of sour grapes or worse.

Trump supporters said the protesters were not respecting the democratic process.

As of Thursday, Democrat Hillary Clinton was leading Trump in votes nationwide 47.7 percent to 47.5 percent, but Trump secured victory in the Electoral College.

There didn't appear to be any groundswell of counter-demonstrations and many people - including Trump himself in his acceptance speech - have called for unity.

The Los Angeles mayor added his own views at a news conference.

"Don't just reach out to somebody who has a different color skin or different gender or different religion," Garcetti said. "Reach out to somebody of a different political party. Have those conversations and see where we can move forward together.'