Protests erupted across the nation as Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election became official in the early Wednesday hours.
The L.A. Times posted live video of one such protest in the Los Angeles area that showed a large crowd peaceably moving through the streets of downtown L.A., shouting call-and-response chants as they snaked toward City Hall.
Similar rallies sprang up in the Bay Area, according to the local NBC affiliate, as well as on college campuses throughout the state and in Oregon, Washington, and along the West Coast.
Chaotic Noise at 10th and Pine pic.twitter.com/uDCMOeZ6Q7
— Bryan Cohen (@bchasesc) November 9, 2016
But while some of the largest protests were on the West Coast (where time zones meant the results were coming in late Tuesday rather than early Wednesday), there were plenty in other liberal strongholds across the nation as well. At a massive protest in New York at Trump Tower, Lady Gaga—who headlined Clinton’s last campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, with an impassioned speech and performance—made an appearance, proudly holding a “Love trumps hate” sign.
❤️🇺🇸I want to live in a #CountryOfKindness where #LoveTrumpsHate pic.twitter.com/Eni145YgW1
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 9, 2016
In a room full of hope, we will be heard. @deray #blacklivesmatter Stand up for kindness, equality, and love. ❤️🇺🇸 Nothing will stop us. pic.twitter.com/CYLnVOseML
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 9, 2016
Wherever the gatherings, however, and whatever the turnout, the message was largely the same: outrage and disgust over the president-elect’s history of racism and sexism, and staunch declarations distancing themselves from representation by Trump. Students in Berkeley carried “f**k Trump, f**k racism” signs; others in the Bay Area loudly chanted “not our president.”
In Oakland and elsewhere, some of the protests turned violent, with vandalism, trash fires, the burning of Trump effigies, broken windows, and more. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in Oakland at the time, but a photographer was struck by a rock at a protest in Dallas, and at least one protester was reportedly arrested there for disorderly conduct.
Trump’s decisive victory over Hillary Clinton, with 279 electoral votes confirmed, caught many in the nation and across the world off-guard; Clinton had been given a 70 percent chance of winning leading into Tuesday’s election, and she maintained a slight edge in the popular vote, according to Google.
But as the real-time analytics began pouring in for the Electoral College, the tables turned, and liberal Americans frantically sought refuge in drinking games, Canadian immigration FAQs, and IRL protests like these.
Though tensions were understandably high on Election Day, protests could continue to unfold across the U.S. between now and Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017—and well beyond.
Update 7:42pm CT, Nov. 9: A large protest organized by students at the University of Texas at Austin lasted several hours, culminating in a march from campus to downtown.
