When retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declared Friday that the election of Donald Trump “has emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America,” he wasn’t referring to the assassination threats against Trump and the nationwide rioting and the brutal physical assaults on the president-elect’s supporters by members of the progressive left.
Calling Trump “a sexual predator who lost the popular vote,” Reid was charging, “White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear,” the Hill reported.
The Democratic leader said that if Trump “wants to roll back the tide of hate he unleashed, he has a tremendous amount of work to do and he must begin immediately.”
But it was anti-Trump protesters who took to the streets across the nation for a third straight night since Election Day in demonstrations that turned violent in many instances.
In Portland, Oregon, what began as a peaceful protest of more than 4,000 people, quickly turned violent as “anarchists” threw objects at officers, vandalized local businesses and damaged cars, police told CNN.
Portland police, on the department’s Twitter page, declared a “riot” due to “extensive criminal and dangerous behavior.”
Meanwhile, a feature writer for the Guardian newspaper of London, Monisha Rajesh, tweeted “it’s about time for an assassination.”
Another Twitter user posted that the “only” remaining question after Tuesday’s election is who will “assassinate” Trump, the New York Post reported.
Other users even cited the Jan. 20 inauguration as a deadline for assassination.
“Trump chose the literal worst case scenario as VP so nobody would try to impeach or assassinate him,” one user posted on Twitter.
A security source told the New York paper that the Secret Service would investigate all social media postings containing credible threats.
’Organize resistance now’
Shaun King, the writer and activist known for his support of the Black Lives Matter movement, wrote in a column published Friday for the New York Daily News that fellow progressives should not wait and see what a Trump administration does but should organize resistance right now.
“I fully believe that Donald Trump is going to come out on January 20 with an iron fist and begin enforcing his will on our country right away,” King wrote. “With control of Congress, this won’t be hard. Most congressional Republicans have already proven they have no backbone and are fully willing to be personally and directly insulted by Donald Trump and still get in line with him at the end of the day. Even without such control, President Obama has actually created the playbook for how the President can get stuff done without the help or support of Congress. Through executive orders, we should expect Donald Trump to force his vision on all of us.”
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore joined the protest outside Trump Tower in New York City, telling Don Lemon on “CNN Tonight” that he “was very proud of the fact that so many people came out because [Trump’s] presidency needs to be opposed right now.”
“Literally thousands of people coming down the street and I just joined them,” Moore said. “There’s a lot of fear and a lot of panic amongst a lot of people right now.”
Brutal beatings
One person who clearly opposes the Trump presidency is the black high school student in California who was captured on video brutally beating a female classmate for declaring on Instagram her support for the president-elect, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Jade Armenio, a sophomore at Woodside High School, told the Mercury News the girl hit her, threw her to the ground and pulled at her earrings and hair, leaving her with a bloody nose, scratches and bruises.
Thursday, in Chicago, a video showed a mob of young black men beating and dragging through the streets a white man who voted for Trump.
A Brooklyn woman known as an anti-bullying crusader was arrested and charged with felony and misdemeanor assault for attacking a 74-year-old Trump supporter, police said Friday.
Shacara McLaurin, 23, got into a shouting match with the senior citizen during an anti-Trump rally near the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, shoving him to the ground so hard that a gash opened up in the back of his head, sending him to the hospital.
“She was yelling ‘Black lives matter’ and he started yelling ‘All lives matter’ and it went from there,” a source told the New York Daily News.
’Things are not as bad as you think’
Top Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani, in a “Fox & Friends” interview Thursday, described the anti-Trump protesters as “a bunch of spoiled cry-babies.”
“Calm down, things are not as bad as you think,” Giuliani said.
Among the cities where anti-Trump protests have arisen are Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Seattle, Tampa, Dallas and Oakland, California.
WPTV in West Palm Beach reported peaceful protest on the streets of Tampa nearly turned into a street brawl. The route took them past an Irish Pub where many Marine Corps members were gathered. With anti-Trump protesters yelling “dump Trump” and the people inside chanting “U.S.A.,” police had to create a human barrier, the TV station reported, as “both sides screamed obscenities and gave each other the middle finger.”
Protester Jenna Ferreira told WPTV: “People are not going to go down without a fight. A lot of people are feeling marginalized, a lot of people feeling oppressed, they’ve lost hope. But, everybody here is full of love and we are going to fight for our rights.”
Protesters vs. Marines in Tampa:
[jwplayer MHbUjht6]
Some 1,000 protesters in Oakland broke store windows, left graffiti on buildings and threw M-80 firecrackers, Molotov cocktails and bottles at police officers, authorities told CNN.
The Los Angeles Time reported protesters said Thursday they were saving their energy for the weekend, though hundreds marched onto a busy highway and brought traffic to a standstill, resulting in 185 arrests Thursday night into Friday morning, including some on suspicion of blocking roads. There were also reports in L.A. of people throwing rocks and bottles at police officers and vandalizing police cars with graffiti. At least one person was held on suspicion of assaulting an officer, according to police.
Protesters gathered outside the White House Thursday night with signs that included “Donald Trump is a racist.”
In Philadelphia, protester Deb Bentzel said that “as a woman and someone who believes all people, regardless of their race, religion or citizenship status should be supported and embraced by this country,” she marched to reject “the racism, hate, misogyny and fear that this man (Trump) projects and fosters in others.”
In Minneapolis, protester Lauren Peck said ‘it’s important to voice that I have serious concerns about this president-elect and the racism, sexism, xenophobia and so much more that does not represent me or so many in my life.”
The Austin Statesman reported at least two men were detained by state troopers during a march through the Texas city.
See Austin police take down a protester:
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Protesters in Denver briefly shut down Interstate 25 near downtown, USA Today reported.
In San Francisco, high school students chanted “not my president” as they marched and held signs urging a Trump eviction.
Protesters in Philadelphia near City Hall also held signs declaring “Not Our President,” as well as “Trans Against Trump” and “Make America Safe For All.”
About 500 people protested in Louisville and marched in Baltimore to the stadium where the Ravens played Thursday night.
