Donald Trump: Protesters take to US streets to rally against election result

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

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

A demonstration of about 6,000 people blocked traffic in Oakland, California, police said. Protesters threw objects at police in riot gear, burned trash in the middle of an intersection, set off fireworks and smashed store front windowsPolice responded by throwing chemical irritants at the protesters, according to a witness.
In downtown Chicago, 1,800 gathered outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower while chanting phrases like: "No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA!"
Chicago police closed roads in the area, impeding the demonstrators' path. There were no immediate reports of arrests or violence.
"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."
In Los Angeles, protesters sat on the 101 Hollywood Freeway, blocking traffic as police in riot gear watched. A rally and march drew more than 5,000 people, many of whom were high school and college students, local media reported.

In Seattle, police said they were responding to reports of a shooting with multiple victims near the scene of anti-Trump protests. Police said the shooting was unrelated to the demonstrations.

Protesters rallied against Mr Trump's campaign pledge to build a wall along the border with Mexico to keep out undocumented immigrants, and other policies they deemed racist.

"I'm particularly concerned about the rise of white nationalism and this is to show my support against that type of thing," Ms Rizzo said. Hundreds also gathered in Philadelphia and Boston.

In the Texas capital Austin, about 400 people marched through the streets, police said. A representative of the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the protests.

In his victory speech, Mr Trump said he would be a president for all Americans, saying: "It is time for us to come together as one united people."

Earlier this month, his campaign rejected the support of a Ku Klux Klan newspaper and said that "Mr Trump and his campaign denounces hate in any form".

'Immigrants make America Great'

About 1,500 California students and teachers also rallied in the courtyard of Berkeley High School, a San Francisco Bay Area city known for its liberal politics, before marching toward the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.

Hundreds of high school and college students also walked out in protest in Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Oakland, Richmond and El Cerrito, California.

A predominantly Latino group of about 300 high school students walked out of classes 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 US with them illegally, 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 organisers of the walkout.

She said her parents were US citizens.

The demonstrations followed a night of protests in the San Francisco area and elsewhere in the country in response to Mr Trump's victory against heavily favoured Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Radio Australia