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Protests broke out across the United States against Donald Trump’s election as president with people chanting, “Not my president!” and “American you are better than this,” as many continue to question the future of the country under the real estate billionaire after an 18 month-long racist, misogynistic and xenophobic campaign.
At Union Square and Columbus Circle in New York, hundreds of demonstrators gathered Wednesday evening responding to several Facebook events for demonstrations created earlier in the day.
More than 10,000 Facebook users said they would join the protests, according to NBC New York.
Nate Chase, attending the protest in New York City, told teleSUR that the crowd which marched from Union Square to Trump Towers met up with other protesters there and was a multinational and very angry crowd, who were certainly not defeated. Chase said he was protesting "to reject the white supremacy, misogyny, homophobia and immigrant bashing that Trump represents."
Protesters realize that while their demonstrations can’t reverse the election, they still believe that they can spur change and have an effect on the outcome of Trump’s victory.
"I hope it rallies everyone together as a wake-up call," one protester, Aqeel said.
"I think there's a chance for impeachment at the end of the day," said another, Joey Henriquez. "We can't let him have eight years."
In Chicago, thousands protested outside Trump International Hotel and Tower as they held signs and chanted slogans against the president-elect. "I want this to be a show that we're still here, to show there are still good people in this country," Emily Marlowe, of Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune. "We'll be here every day if we have to."
The demonstrators blocked Trump Tower in Chicago and its lower-level parking garage before marching to downtown streets. "No Trump, No KKK, No Fascists USA" and "Not my president!" were among the chants shouted by the crowd.
"We don't want a president who hates," Chicago resident Gloria Ortega told the local newspaper. "We don't want a racist, sexist, xenophobe."
Five people were arrested in the wake of the protests in the city. Two men were held in custody for obstructing traffic, one for reckless conduct, and another for criminal trespassing. In addition, a juvenile male was arrested and now faces charges of both criminal trespassing and resisting arrest.
Meanwhile, in California, several protests against Trump took place across the state with students at several San Francisco Bay Area high schools walking out in the middle of class. In Berkeley, California, outside San Francisco, some 1,500 high school students and teachers walked out of classes chanting: "Not our president."
A predominantly Latino group of about 300 high school students walked out of classes Wednesday morning in Los Angeles and marched to the steps of City Hall, where they held a brief but boisterous rally.
Chanting in Spanish, "The people united will never be defeated," the group held signs with slogans such as "Not Supporting Racism, Not My President" and "Immigrants Make America Great."
Many of those students were members of the "Dreamers" generation, children whose parents entered the U.S. with them without documents, school officials said, and who fear deportation under a Trump administration.
"A child should not live in fear that they will be deported," said Stephanie Hipolito, one of the student organizers of the walkout. She said her parents are U.S. citizens.
Local reports also suggested that groups of high school students walked out of classes in Oakland and in Seattle, while several hundred students protested at the University of Texas.
As educational institutions across the country have organized actions of some kind, some teachers and professors are postponing exams and sending notes of condolences to students.
"The nation in which you currently reside decided last night to elect a president whose own words have painted him a moral and possibly physical hazard to many of us," University of Maryland professor Alan Peel wrote to students, postponing all assessments. "I debated whether to press on today in the spirit of re-establishing normalcy, but have come to realize that my position and my background may have afforded me the privilege to do so. Others may find they do not have that privilege."
"Partisan, inflammatory statements unfortunately seem to be part of modern campaign rhetoric, but they cause real wounds," Northwestern University wrote in an email to students Wednesday, reminding them that if they needed to miss class, to notify professors.
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