Portland police say anti-Trump protest is ‘riot’

The initially peaceful protests deteriorated into riots, with property being damaged along the way, CNN reported.

About 4,000 protesters were in the streets with chants like “we reject the president-elect”.

Police in Portland Oregon have detained several people as an anti-Trump protest-turned violent with demonstrators breaking windows of businesses and starting a dumpster fire downtown. Three officers were injured, police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said.

Trump initially tweeted saying that the “professional protesters” had been “incited by the media” and called the situation “very unfair!”

About 30 people protested the election of Republican president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday night in Van Nuys, authorities said. Demonstrations also took place internationally, including Israel, London and Manila, Philippines. One activist said in a press release the group was looking to “survive President Trump” with the hope that Portland would “become a beacon of light for the rest of the nation”.

It was not immediately clear how long the protests in downtown Denver would last.

On the East Coast, protests occurred in Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and NY, while on the West Coast demonstrators rallied in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland in California besides Portland.

Around midnight, a group refused to leave the area around Olympic Boulevard and Olive Street, and about 35 people were arrested. You got gay rights, you got mass deportations.

Outside the White House on Thursday night, protesters gathered with signs, some of which said “Donald Trump is a racist”. They held signs bearing slogans like “Not Our President”, “Trans Against Trump” and “Make America Safe For All”.

Protesters in Denver, Minneapolis and Los Angeles were able to briefly shut down highways as they marched through the streets.

And in a possible hint of things to come, Trump also updated his followers on his plans for the day.

Labelling the protestors “professional” or “incited”, said Kenneth Roth, the head of Human Rights Watch, “doesn’t change their First Amendment right: ‘the right of the people peaceably to assemble'”.

Protesters gathered throughout the country to express outrage at Trump’s election and solidarity with those most threatened by his rise to power.