via CBS New York.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — The NYPD says dozens of people were arrested overnight as thousands of protesters marched in Manhattan and converged outside Trump Tower to denounce the election of Donald Trump to the presidency.
Around 65 people were arrested mostly for disorderly conduct with some for obstructing government administration and resisting arrest, police said.
One group of protesters began at Union Square Wednesday night, while another started at Columbus Circle. Splinter groups of protesters then streamed into the streets causing massive gridlock as police mobilized to contain them under a light rain.
Outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown, police installed barricades to keep the demonstrators at bay.
The protesters chanted “Not my president” and “hey, hey, ho, ho Donald Trump has got to go.” They held signs that read “Trump Makes America Hate” and “Impeach Trump.”
“He’s a racist, homophobic, xenophobic, nightmare,” said protester KC Trommer. “Misogynist nightmare.”
Similar protests took place in major cities around the country.
From New England to heartland cities and along the West Coast, demonstrators bore flags and effigies of the president-elect, disrupting traffic and declaring that they refused to accept Trump’s victory.
Thousands of protesters burned a giant papier-mache Trump head in Los Angeles and started fires in Oakland intersections. Late in the evening, several hundred people blocked one of the city’s busiest freeways, U.S. 101 between downtown and Hollywood.
In Chicago, several thousand people marched through the Loop. They gathered outside Trump Tower, chanting “Not my president!”
Chicago resident Michael Burke said he believes the president-elect will “divide the country and stir up hatred.” He added there was a constitutional duty not to accept that outcome.
Hundreds of protesters gathered near Philadelphia’s City Hall despite chilly, wet weather. Participants, who included both supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, expressed anger at both Republicans and Democrats over the election’s outcome.
In Boston, thousands of anti-Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting “Trump’s a racist” and carrying signs that said “Impeach Trump” and “Abolish Electoral College.”
There were other Midwest protest marches in Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri.
Marchers protesting Trump’s election chanted and carried signs in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Dallas activists gathered by the dozens outside the city’s sports arena, the American Airlines Center.
In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland, burned American flags and forced a delay for trains on two light-rail lines and hundreds massed in downtown Seattle streets.
But the fact is, American voters marched to the polls Tuesday and elected Trump to be the 45th president of the United States, CBS2’s Magdalena Doris reported.
For those marching in protest back in New York, it’s a reality they haven’t accepted.
“We reject the president-elect,” one protester said.
Protestors say they are fearful of policies that may marginalize many Americans, but are reassured by the popular vote, which Clinton appears to be on pace to win despite losing the electoral count that decides the presidential race.
“If there is some comfort in this, it’s to know the majority of Americans didn’t want this guy,” filmmaker and activist Michael Moore said.
However, the ground swell will not change the outcome of the election.
“I don’t think it will change anything because we have laws in place and they need to be respected in order for this country to be OK,” said Brooklyn resident Lauren Slakter.
And while there were resounding demonstrations across the country, others believe it’s time to get behind the new president-elect as a nation.
“I want them to give him a chance because they’re gonna see , he’s gonna make a change and we need it desperately,” said Trump supporter Cynthia Richmond.
“I think we have a new president, we should all unify and rally around President Trump,” another man said. “I think it’s done, move on give our streets back.”
Trump is set to meet with President Barack Obama Thursday at the White House.
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