Major Cities Erupt in Protest Over Donald Trump’s Win

Protests have erupted in major cosmopolitan cities across America since Tuesday, when Donald Trump shocked the nation with his upset victory. Streams of people crammed the streets of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. over the weekend, many coalescing around Trump properties, chanting and holding signs, and some, clashing with police.

The most violent and contentious protests–deemed riots by the local police–occurred in Portland, Oregon on Saturday evening. People wearing Guy Fawkes masks–now a favored motif of the hacker group Anonymous–and others holding signs, many of which read “Not my President,” flooded the streets. According to media reports from the scene as well as reports from the Portland police, some protesters hurled road flares and rocks at riot police, who were equipped with shields and batons.

Seventy-one people were arrested in Portland. One man was shot at the Morrison Bridge and was later treated at a hospital. Portland police said two 18-year-old men were arrested and charged with attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the shooting. Protests elsewhere, many of which drew thousands of people, were largely peaceful, with people silently walking with encouraging signs preaching empathy for many of the groups that Trump mocked or targeted during his unusual campaign that upended political protocol yet still managed to hand him the White House.

Los Angeles stands with #NeverTrump & #calexit in an **INCREDIBLE** show of solidary on Wilshire Blvd#TrumpProtest pic.twitter.com/wAPa6ied6y

— #CalExit NaphiSoc (@NaphiSoc) November 13, 2016

The protests highlight one of the major fault lines of the bruising 2016 campaign: the disparate worlds of rural and urban America. Most major cosmopolitan cities–Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C.–and many mid-sized ones as well, went blue on Election Day. Smaller towns that are rural and mostly white went to Trump. His divisive rhetoric left deep scars for many who opposed his message and others belonging to groups that were consistently berated by Trump over the past year.

Those scars left a burning desire to protest since Trump’s message won out, and the “not my president” tagline can likely be applied to many liberal pockets on the coasts. But for others, a shred less than a majority of voters, as Hillary Clinton won the popular vote yet lost the Electoral College, Trump is the president they elected and the man they hope will live up to his ubiquitous campaign motto.

For his part, President-elect Trump, in an interview that aired on 60 Minutes Sunday night, said to those who were fearful of his time in office: “Don’t be afraid.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.