Anti-Donald Trump protesters have taken to the streets near Trump Tower in New York and in several other US cities. The protests began early Friday afternoon, marking the third night of mass demonstrations after Trump clobbered his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election.

City officials in Portland, Oregon, called for calm on Friday after peaceful protests there the night before turned violent. About 4,000 protesters gathered downtown late Thursday, chanting “we reject the president-elect!” However, some vandalized cars and shattered windows on businesses, with twenty-five of them being arrested.

“We had some anarchists who hijacked that event and did terrible damage to our neighbors and friends,” Mayor Charlie Hales said at a news conference on Friday. “They spread violence and fear and detracted from the legitimate exercise of those First Amendment rights.”

In Boston, hundreds of people assembled in Boston Common for a “Love Rally in the Common.” “Let’s unite together to peacefully show all of those whom Donald Trump or his supporters have put down that we still care about them, and to give them an opportunity to have their voices be heard,” organizers said on Facebook.

Similar protests were also held in South Florida as well as Denver, where hundreds of high school students walked out of classes. “We are not thugs, we are not criminals. We are humans. Just like you Trump,” read a sign carried by one student.

Trump initially dismissed the demonstrators on Twitter, calling them “professional protesters, incited by the media,” but later said he admired their “passion.” Trump stunned the world by defeating heavily favored Clinton, sending the United States on a new, uncertain path.

His election campaign had been marred by his disparaging remarks against minorities in the US. His controversial comments include a call to ban all Muslims from coming to America as well as stopping Mexican migrants by building a long wall along the US-Mexico border.

He had also sought a database to track Muslims across the United States and said that the US would have “absolutely no choice” but to close down mosques.

Culled from Presstv