Donald Trump's victory sparks protests across America

Donald Trump's victory sparks protests across America

Anti-Trump activists launched impromptu protests criticizing the racism, sexism and xenophobia that they say the president-elect has made mainstream

Protesters in US cities take to the streets saying Donald Trump is not their president.

Donald Trump’s unexpected election win ignited protests across the United States, with thousands of demonstrators crowding into streets and surrounding his buildings in major American cities.

The protests – in cities including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Philadelphia and Seattle – erupted after the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, lost the electoral college and presidential race on Tuesday night despite apparently winning the popular vote.

As US voters and international leaders began to come to terms with a Republican White House led by the former reality television star, people opposed to Trump on Wednesday took to the streets criticizing the racism, sexism and xenophobia that they say the president-elect has made mainstream.

As night fell in midtown Manhattan, people took over Sixth Avenue and marched by Trump Tower, carrying signs that read “Not my president”, “She got more votes” and “Hands off my pussy”, a reference to a leaked recording where Trump bragged that he could sexually assault women because of his fame. A number of arrests were made.

Protesters who had marched all the way from Union Square – some 35 blocks downtown – continued past Trump Tower, with a crowd congregating in front of the president-elect’s building.

“Fuck your tower! Fuck your wall!” people chanted at Trump Tower’s brass-escutcheoned facade, as scores of NYPD officers manned barricades, behind which stood eight department of sanitation trucks filled with dirt.

Throngs of demonstrators held marches across the United States on Wednesday to protest Republican Donald Trump's surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election, blasting his campaign rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims and other groups.

Trump, 70, was elected the next president, upending most predictions and rising to the nation's highest office despite several controversial statements during his 18 months campaigning.

In New York, thousands of protesters filled streets in midtown Manhattan as they made their way to Trump Tower, while hundreds others gathered at a Manhattan park and shouted: "Not my president."

'Enjoy your rights while you can.'— Protester Adriana Rizzo

The protest moved up 6th Avenue, closing part of the street to traffic.

In Chicago, thousands more attempted to gather outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower downtown while chanting phrases like "No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA."

Chicago police closed roads in the area, blocking the demonstrators' path.

"I'm just really terrified about what is happening in this country," said 22-year-old Adriana Rizzo, who was holding a sign that read: "Enjoy your rights while you can."

'Calm down, things are not as bad as you think.'— Rudy Giuliani

One of Trump's top advisers — former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani — dismissed the protesters as "a bunch of spoiled crybabies."

Giuliani said on Fox News early Thursday that most of the protesters are college-age students and seem to be "one per cent of one per cent of one per cent."

He said he would encourage Trump to listen to these voices and tell them to wait a year.

"Calm down, things are not as bad as you think," Giuliani said.

Giuliani is widely expected to get a major position in the Trump administration.

Trump's party controls Congress, but he won't have free rein

A second round of protests was planned across the U.S. on Thursday, including an anti-Trump rally at New York City's Union Square Park, in Washington D.C., Baltimore, at the University of Wisconsin and elsewhere.

More demonstrations are planned heading into the weekend, according to organizers' online posts. One urged protesters to rally in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.