Anti-Trump Protesters Fill the Streets Nationwide
In 15 different American cities Wednesday, enraged voters marched, chanted and blocked major highways in response to Donald Trump's surprising election victory. From Los Angeles to New York, Indianapolis to Miami, citizens' signs drew attention to Trump's countless offenses, which would have barred any normal politician from the highest office. Even red-state cities saw protests, including Atlanta, Dallas and Kansas City, Missouri.
Protesters took to the streets condemning the "whitelash" of the majority of caucasian Americans voting for a xenophobic, racist, sexist bully who began his campaign by calling Mexicans "rapists" and proclaiming, "The American dream is dead."
In Trump's home city of New York, protesters were particularly vehement, starting at Union Square and marching to Trump Tower. Thousands of ordinary citizens opposed to Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and sexist behavior and statements, among other issues, were joined by not a few celebrities. The actor Mark Ruffalo was spotted, but refrained from including curse words in his chants since he had brought his young daughter along.
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore attended the rally, and told the Huffington Post that the protests must go on and on. “We had all those big protests before the Iraq war and once the war started, everyone stopped protesting,” Moore said. “This time, we keep it up and we don’t stop till he’s out of there.”
According to the Washington Post, "In Oakland, Calif., two police officers were injured and two patrol cars burned as thousands of protesters took to the streets and chanted slogans against Trump, a police spokeswoman said. A few protesters threw objects at police dressed in riot gear, smashed windows and started small fires in the downtown area."
Protesters shut down California's Interstate 101 for a time and called for their state to secede, a movement now known as “Cal-exit.” Many of the demonstrators in Los Angeles who showed up were Latino, responding to Trump's racist vitriol against immigrants.
It's worth noting that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. And while Trump earned a significant portion of the millennial vote of 18- to 29-year-olds (37 percent), Clinton's 55 percent of that demographic would have delivered her a landslide win.
Ironically, after Tuesday night's results rolled in, "Make America Great Again" took on a whole new meaning. These anti-Trump protests in the wake of the election could signify a raucous beginning of a long wave of social action during a Trump administration.
