US police arrest 29 after anti-Donald Trump protests turn violent in Oregon

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Demonstrators chanting 'Love Trumps Hate,' gathered outside the Trump Hotel in Washington, in protest over the election of Donald Trump to serve as the next US president.
Students hold a sit-in in front of City Hall protesting the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States in San Francisco, California, US on Nov 10, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS
Students from Lick-Wilmerding High School, including Leah Atkins, 14 (centre, left) and Annette Vergara, 15 (centre, right), assemble in front of City Hall in protest of the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States in San Francisco, California, US, on Nov 10, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS
A group of high school students marching past San Francisco City Hall after walking out of their school to protest Donald Trump's election, on Nov 10, 2016. PHOTO: NYTIMES
University of California Los Angeles students marching through campus on Nov 10, 2016, in Los Angeles, California, during a Love Trumps Hate rally in reaction to President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the presidential elections.
PHOTO: AFP
University of California Los Angeles students holding signs and listen to speeches before marching through campus on Nov 10, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, during a Love Trumps Hate rally. PHOTO: AFP
University of California Los Angeles students holding signs and listen to speeches before marching through campus on Nov 10, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, during a Love Trumps Hate rally. PHOTO: AFP
University of California Los Angeles students marching through campus on Nov 10, 2016, in Los Angeles, California, during a Love Trumps Hate rally. PHOTO: AFP

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Police said on Friday (Nov 11) they had arrested 29 people in Oregon after protests in the state against the election of Donald Trump to the presidency became 'riots'.

"Police have arrested at least 29 people during riot. Late Friday morning we'll have a complete update on arrests, charges and photos," Portland police said on their official twitter account.

The arrest came as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in several US cities for a second night of nationwide anti-Trump protests on Thursday.

In Portland, Oregon, police said a rally there had degenerated into what they called a riot because of "extensive criminal and dangerous behaviour." Police said protesters were smashing storefront windows.

Trump, commenting on the unrest for the first time, blamed the news media.

Shouting "Not my president!" and carrying placards that read "I did not elect hate for president," some 300 people marched in Baltimore.

Protests also took place in New York, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Oakland and elsewhere.

"We are just showing that this is going to be the next four years. It'll be four years of resistance," Kaila Philo, a 21-year-old student, told The Baltimore Sun.

She said she had created an event on Facebook for her friends that ended up attracting thousands.

Trump commented on the protests saying in a tweet: "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"

Earlier on Thursday, demonstrators - mostly students who skipped classes - also marched in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities.

Some 1,000 students, most of them high-schoolers, marched through San Francisco's financial district toward City Hall chanting "Not my president!" and blocking traffic. Some also carried placards that read "Trans Against Trump" and "Make America Safe For All." "We are protesting because we want to stand up for our rights and we deserve to be heard," Pamela Campos, 18, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Donald Trump is just racist. He's attacking all the immigrants, all the Muslims. I saw all my classmates crying yesterday." Students held walkouts in several other northern California cities, including Napa and Hayward.

In Los Angeles, several hundred students marched at the University of California campus carrying placards that read "Dump Trump" and "Love trumps hate." "Initially, I accepted his election but yesterday when I saw Hillary's concession speech, I couldn't avoid crying," Daisy Rivera, 24, told AFP of the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

"I can't believe we have that racist, xenophobic, misogynist elected president." .

In New York, some 300 to 400 anti-Trump protesters gathered, down from 2,000 the day before. Police kept them on the sidewalk and prevented them from blocking 5th Avenue.

Similar demonstrations that attracted tens of thousands of people took place in various cities on Wednesday Protests are also planned over the weekend.

The demonstrations have been peaceful overall despite some arrests and police in riot gear deployed in heavy numbers in several cities.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti lauded the protests while urging the demonstrators to stay off freeways and not vandalize property.

"This was a traumatic election," he told a news conference. "There's plenty of division, and there's finger-pointing in both directions, but there were things that were said that were not partisan, about women, about our Muslim brothers and sisters, about immigrants."

Trump's rhetoric about minorities outraged many during the election campaign. Around a dozen women have also accused the real estate billionaire of sexual misconduct.

Professors at several universities across the country cancelled classes or delayed tests on Wednesday to allow students to "cope" with the election outcome.

At Cornell University in New York, where students held a "cry in," one professor scrapped her lecture for fear she would "break down" before students.

A University of Michigan psychology professor postponed an exam saying his students appeared clearly upset.

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