DONALD TRUMP

'Divided States of America': Anti-Trump Protests Continue in US Cities

In New York City, a large group of demonstrators once again gathered outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue Thursday night

Anti-Trump demonstrators took to the streets in several cities across the country for a second day of protests against the president-elect, who returned to Twitter Thursday evening to accuse them of being "incited by the media."

"Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very Unfair!" Donald Trump tweeted Thursday evening. 

Early Friday, he struck a different tone: "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!"

Trump's complaint about the media echoes the rhetoric of his campaign, when he railed against the press as "disgusting" and "dishonest." The president-elect showed unusual restraint on social media in the final days of the campaign and has been nearly absent since Tuesday night's victory.

Meanwhile, several hundred people marched across dozens of states across the country, including Michigan, Oregon, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Dallas and California. 

In Portland, Oregon, police arrested 26 people after a protest turned into a "riot" overnight, NBC News reported. 

Some demonstrators armed with bats smashed stores and cars, and others lit fires, police said. Many in the crowd were trying to stop the vandalism, according to police.

Some 600 protesters marched through downtown Baltimore to the M&T Bank Stadium, where the Ravens were hosting the Cleveland Browns for Thursday Night Football.

Hundreds of protesters, including parents with 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."

Even in Texas, where the majority of voters supported Trump, at least 200 people marched through Dallas in what organizers stressed was a rally, not a protest, against Trump.

In New York City, a large group of demonstrators once again gathered outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue Thursday night. They chanted angry slogans and waved banners baring anti-Trump messages. 

Demonstrators also gathered outside Chicago's Trump Tower to voice opposition to Trump's election.

More than a thousand students staged a citywide walkout and 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.

About a hundred protesters gathered at Union Square in Manhattan earlier in the day and marched to Washington Square Park to protest a Trump presidency. They held signs that read "Divided States of America" and "Not My President" and "Let the New Generation Speak!!"

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

Similar protests were also held by school students in other cities across the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Miami, Florida.

On Twitter, Trump supporters accused protesters of not respecting the process because it didn't work out in their favor.

"You're literally protesting against free democratic elections. Go live in North Korea, you absolute trash," one said. "They're not protesting Trump, they're protesting democracy and the right to disagree with them. Isn't that fascism," said another.

For the most part, demonstrations have been peaceful, but some arrests have been made in California and Chicago. 

Earlier on Thursday, Trump met with Obama at the White House to talk about the transition of power. 

"I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including his counsel," Trump said from the Oval Office. 

"We now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed because if you succeed the country succeeds," Obama said.

Trump also visited with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. 

"We're going to move very strongly on immigration," Trump said after emerging from those meetings. "We will move very strongly on health care. And we're looking at jobs. Big league jobs." 

Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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