Cops Clash with 6,000-Strong Crowd in Oakland and Activists Block Roads in LA amid Nationwide Demonstrations

Violence has broken out at anti-Trump rallies across America overnight as tens of thousands marched against the President-elect before angry mobs attacked police, started fires and shut down highways.

The streets of downtown Oakland in California were choked with smoke Thursday as police launched tear gas and protesters lit fires, in what became by some distance the most violent of the many protests against the election of Donald Trump.

More than 6,000 protesters were seen on the streets of Oakland with an initially peaceful march down a cop-lined street turning nasty after some protesters threw bottles at officers and torched a police car. An office block was also attacked, daubed with ‘f*** Trump’ and ‘kill Trump’ graffiti and then set alight.

And thousands more filled streets in Los Angeles before taking over the 110 Freeway while other protesters gathered outside City Hall, lighting fires and waving Trump heads on sticks. There were 14 arrests.

In New York, home of the President-elect, at least 30 people were arrested when cops cracked down on twin demonstrations in Columbus Circle and at Trump Tower.

As many as 7,500 demonstrators were believed to have been split between the two locations, chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Donald Trump, go away, racist, sexist, anti-gay.’

Cher and Madonna were among the NYC protesters, with Cher telling one supporter they needed to ‘fight.’

Trump’s poll-defying win has sparked a wave of similar rallies across the country. Protests stopped traffic in Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco, California, among many others.

Outside the White House, a candlelit vigil was being held in protest against Mr Trump’s inflammatory and divisive brand of politics. But even peaceful protests in that city went awry, with at least one protester being bundled into the back of a van by the Secret Service.

Masses of protesters–more than 6,000, according to the East Bay Times marched down a cop-lined Broadway, protesting the election of Donald Trump.

The group had convened in Frank Ogawa Plaza for a peaceful but passionate protest–that plan, however, went to pieces after 8pm after the crowd threw glass bottles at the police line.

The cops responded in kind, firing incendiary devices into the crowd as unlawful assembly orders were read out.

Two groups were still contained by police in the area, feeding fires and being blocked from entering the I-90.

It’s not yet clear how many–if any–were arrested in that incident, but one person was taken in after shining a laser at a police helicopter–something that cops say is a federal offense.

Twitter videos showed many fires burning in downtown streets, and cops marching in formation on protesters.

Crowds of disgruntled voters packed into the northern plaza of Union Square, in Downtown Manhattan tonight–among them pop star Cher. One protester announced on Facebook: ‘Cher just told me we have to fight. I trust in Cher.’

Madonna posted footage of crowds chanting ‘Not my President!’ on her Instagram feed.

The rally, organised by a group called Socialist Alternative, called on people to ‘build a movement to fight racism, sexism, and Islamophobia’.

Among the crowd was teacher Julia Dunn, who told NBC 4 New York: ‘There’s a man who’s the human embodiment of hate who’s going to become our next president, so the best thing we can do is try to connect with people who are representing love and connection.’

‘Fight white power’ and ‘Love Trumps Hate’ were printed across dozens of placards as people voiced their anger over the election result.

There were reports of ‘multiple arrests’ as the crowd started their march 40 blocks uptown towards Trump Towers. Father Craig Wolf was reportedly detained as he marched with his 15-year-old daughter and her friends, and NBC later reported at least 30 arrests.

One woman taking part in the event was Julie Rossman, 30, who told DNA Info: ‘He is a misogynist, he’s a racist, and he ran a campaign on hate and lies.’

In Columbus Circle demonstrators hung a plastic effigy of Donald Trump as cries of ‘Black Lives Matter’ rang out across the crowd.

At around 8pm, NYPD officers outside Trump Hotel & Tower attempted to break up the crowds and move them onto the sidewalk.

Video on Twitter shows rows of police standing in the road as a robotic voice warned that anyone refusing to leave the street would be arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

Los Angeles , CA

Countless thousands of protesters were seen across LA’s streets, swarming in what was described by CBS as an apparently disorganized protest, with no particular start or end point.

As time wore on, the crowd looked increasingly out of control, it said.

Many of the protesters took over the 110 Freeway, stopping traffic completely.

Others headed to City Hall, where they lit fires on the steps and waved around placard and signs–as well as a papier mâché Donald Trump head on a stick. Police eventually dispersed the crowd around the fires and put them out.

Seattle, WA

A socialist councilwoman’s call for a protest was met in mass in Seattle, KIRO 7 reported.

Kshama Sawant called for a massive protest on Wednesday night and a nationwide shutdown on Inauguration Day. ‘I appeal to you, [Wednesday] at 4 o’clock, at Westlake [Park], let’s have a massive protest, and tell America we do not accept a racist agenda,’ she said.

And so at 4pm hundreds began to amass in the park, objecting through bullhorns to being ruled by billionaires. Their numbers swelled until thousands were amassing downtown.

They then traveled to Capitol Hill, and on into the University District.

In a separate incident, five people were shot dead at around 7am, while the protest was ongoing. Police have said there was no link between the two events.

New Orleans, LA

Dozens of protesters gathered in Lee Circle to protest the election, setting fire to an effigy of Trump and vandalizing the monument–dedicated to Confederate general Robert E Lee–with spray-painted slogans.

Among the slogans on the pillar and its base were ‘Black Power,’ ‘Dismantle White Supremacy’ and ‘F*** Trump,’ NOLA.com reported.

The protesters chanted ‘No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!’

Local Monica Jean, who declined to give her last name, told the crowd: ‘I am a gay Latina woman. Last night, I found out that most of my country hates me.’

A nearby Chase Bank window was also broken after the protest peeled away from the monument and went down St Charles Avenue. Passersby said masked men were responsible.

San Francisco, CA

Thousands of protesters filled downtown San Francisco before heading up to the Castro District.

Cable car lines were down while the protest passed under the cables, with some holding signs and placards reading ‘Dump Trump’ and ‘Build Bridges, Not Walls.’

Chants of ‘f*** Donald Trump’ and ‘No racist USA, no Trump, no KKK,’ were reported by Hoodline as the masses marched, some with children in pushchairs.

Philadelphia, PA

The city of brotherly love was showing precious little love for Donald Trump, as a march that started at The University of Pennsylvania became a rally at City Hall.

That rally attracted hundreds, then around 1,000, people who headed out onto the streets, protesting ‘We’re not Trump’s America.’

The group marched to Temple University, causing delays for traffic, and then on through the city.

A US flag was burned at Temple University, The Tab reported.

Chicago, IL

The streets of Chicago, Illinois, were overrun with protesters Wednesday night as anti-Trump fever took hold.

A small group of demonstrators were picketing the Trump International Hotel and Tower in the city in the afternoon. They were later joined by dozens more before taking their protests to the streets.

Thousands of activists carrying signs reading ‘stop Trump!’ and ‘shut down white supremacy’ marched through the streets of the Loop, blocking traffic and surrounding cars.

Anti-Trump protester Sam Barber Kennedy told ABC 7: ‘We’re just not happy about Trump. He’s a bigot. We can’t have that as the face of America. We’re a joke of the world.’

Boston, MA

A small crowd of around 50 who gathered at Boston Common to protest around 7pm swelled into a crowd of 4,000, according to police, as incandescent Bostonians descended on the area.

Local government dispatched 75 officers as a precaution, Patch.com reported, but the protest–organized by Boston Socialist Alternative–soon swelled to gargantuan proportions.

Female and male protesters started a call-and-response chant of ‘My p***y, my choice’ and ‘Your p***y, your choice,’ as they occupied the space.

Their numbers were added to by others from a separate anti-Dakota Access Pipeline event that had taken place earlier in the day, and they soon joined the chants of ‘F*** your wall.’

The protest eventually went mobile, marching past the State House under the watchful eyes of police.

Portland, OR

American flags were set ablaze in the hipster capital as dozens of people blocked traffic and forced delays on two rail lines, and that number ultimately swelled to around 2,000 according to KOIN.

Earlier in the evening, when there were just a few protesters gathered at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Trump supporters had arrived to jeer at and taunt them.

At one point, one of the Trump backers was chased across the square and hit in the back with a skateboard. That almost broke into a full-on fight but it was ultimately broken up.

A separate group on the march swelled in numbers as it blocked roads downtown and in north-east Portland. At one point, a small group of people burned an American flag.

It then merged with another group at Pioneer Courthouse Square, increasing numbers dramatically.

Richmond, VA

Hundreds of protesters in Richmond took their anger onto the I-95, WTVR reported.

The march began at Virginia Commonwealth University, before proceeding onto Broad Street and Belvidere, then down the south ramp of the Interstate.

The group stopped traffic there, but were removed by police. It’s not yet clear whether there were any arrests.

They then looped back around and to the VCU campus. Some then peeled away to protest at the Virginia State Capital.

One Twitter video showed the group marching down the I-95. Another showed the group occupying a wide street, raising banners painted with the gay pride colors, and another designed to look like an upside-down US flag.

Washington, DC 

Protesters gathered for a second night outside the White House before marching to picket the new Trump International Hotel in Washington DC–but their initially peaceful protest also ended with arrests.

Disappointed voters of all ages lit candles before moving on to Trump’s new hotel. There, people’s chants of ‘say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here’ were met with cheers. Others chanted: ‘They go low, we go high’.

As the night wore on, however, things became less placid; a flag was burned in the street, and later ABC 7’s Tim Barber tweeted a photograph of a man being handcuffed and bundled into a van by Secret Service.

He had reported of a ‘scuffle’ just shortly before, although between whom was not clear.

Across the country

Other cities affected by protests included San Diego, California; Dallas, Texas; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

They followed election-night protests that took place on university campuses in Democrat states, after alcohol-fueled parties descended into wakes as swathes of Republican red spread across the map.

Hundreds of people in Philadelphia and Seattle marched in the early hours as Trump’s win was confirmed.

Police said 500 angry voters swarmed onto streets in and around the University of California, Los Angeles, shouting anti-Trump expletives and lighting flares.

On the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, a group of around 30 Trump supporters tried to shout down demonstrators, the LA Times reports.

In Pennsylvania, hundreds of University of Pittsburgh students marched through the streets, with some in the crowd calling for unity, while others organised an event entitled: ‘Emergency Meeting: Let’s Unite to Stop President Trump.’ Students chanted: ‘No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA’.