Thousands of protestors met at Union Square in New York City and marched to Trump Tower on the evening of Nov. 9, to rally against the result of Donald Trump being elected to the highest office in the country.
Those in attendance ranged from independent 20-somethings to socially progressive groups such as Black Lives Matter and the Justice Committee.
Participants filled the streets and sidewalks. Protestors were primarily peaceful and the majority obeyed police commands to move onto the sidewalk and out of the street, as traffic was forced to halt. Some observers cheered – even out of the windows of their office buildings – as the procession of protestors marched down the streets.
Chants of “love trumps hate,” “this is what democracy looks like” and “a people united will never be defeated” were yelled through the streets of Manhattan.
“I feel a little more powerful than I did at 3 a.m,” said Nikki Levinson, one of the protestors.
Some carried signs with messages such as “Lead with Love,” “My Healthcare Matters,” “Love Above All” and “We’re better than this.”
The NYPD, peaceful and protecting, acted as a fence around those protesting. When asked about the violence of the night, an officer who asked to remain anonymous, said there had been little to none.
Later that same night, ABC News confirmed that out of an estimated 10,000 protesters, only 65 were arrested. Yet, as the number of protests – mostly remaining peaceful – spiked throughout the country after the election, so did the number of hate crimes. Major news outlets such as BBC News, USA Today and The New York Times have reported spikes in bias-based crimes since Trump’s victory on Tuesday. Many have occurred at major universities, including the University of New Mexico, where a Muslim student told BBC that a man wearing a Trump shirt attempted to pull her hijab off.
Protests against Trump similar to those in New York City took place on the same night in: Chicago, Ill.; District of Columbia; Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; Boston, Mass.; Portland, Ore.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Richmond, Va.; and Dallas, Texas. These mirrored the protests of students at universities and colleges around the nation.
All of the protests have been met with verbal opposition from Trump supporters, as well as support from those who are upset at the results.
Of the protests that occurred in New York, Angelo Micciche, a freshman business major at Hofstra, said, “I just don’t believe in what’s going on in the city right now. People are destroying their own country just because they don’t believe in basically a fair election. I really don’t understand and I don’t agree what’s going on in the city.”
Stevens Martinez, a sophomore business major, attended the protest in New York City.
“I was shocked. I was the only one with an American flag around my back. We can’t forget that we’re fighting for our version of America, not against America.”
