Ironically, some protesters carry signs that say “Love trumps hate” and “Love always wins” — while many of their fellow protesters riot, smash windows, attack bystanders, block traffic and vandalize cars and property.

Chanting “Not my president!,” the protesters reject the election of Donald Trump because they disagree with him, even though he was legally elected. “You got climate change, you got the Iran deal. You got gay rights, you got mass deportations. Just everything, straight up and down the line, the guy is wrong on every issue,” said one protester outside the Trump Tower in New York City. However, what many protesters really want is to force local changes like rent control — if they want anything at all besides the pleasures of violent protest.

It’s possible that others manipulate the rioters for their own purposes. Many of the demonstrators are funded by wealthy activists like left-wing billionaire George Soros, recruited through ads on Craigslist. Since the election, new ads have been posted that say things like, “Be Civil, but Don’t Back Down.” Todd Walther, spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police, told CNN that 70 percent of those arrested in Charlotte had out-of-state IDs. Blocks of buses were caught on video in Chicago busing in protesters from Wisconsin.

 

 

Portland and Los Angeles

The worst violence has taken place in Portland, Oregon. On Thursday, over 4,000 demonstrators showed up to riot, setting a dumpster on fire and vandalizing 19 cars at a dealership in Northeast Portland. Anarchists joined the protest and vandalized buildings, kicked cars, attacked drivers, and knocked out power. One driver reported her windshield smashed. Many were armed with bats and threw projectiles at police officers.

By 8:30 p.m., police labeled it a riot. The Oregon State Department of Transportation was forced to shut down parts of Interstates 5 and 84 for awhile. The protesters refused to disband when asked by police, and over 26 people were arrested. The groups included Don’t Shoot Portland and Black Lives Matter, which combined in Portland to become a new group called “Portland’s Resistance.”

Portland’s Resistance issued a list of demands after the rioting, which include, “An acknowledgement of Portland’s racist past and concrete steps to rectify that sad truth,” “An acknowledgement that we are living on stolen land and efforts to rectify that fact,” and “Rent control and an end to no cause evictions.”

In Los Angeles, hundreds of protesters marched onto the busy 101 freeway Thursday night, bringing traffic to a stop. They vandalized property, threw bottles and launched fireworks. They burned a giant papier-mache Trump head. A woman in Los Angeles assaulted a police officer, hitting him on the head with handcuffs. On Wednesday night, 28 were arrested. On Sunday, the number of demonstrators swelled to 8,000.

I lost count of how many protesters tonight. Here they are on the 101 freeway. #dtla pic.twitter.com/Fl54LBZdyY

— Marcus Yam (@yamphoto) November 10, 2016

On Friday evening, police reported burning projectiles and bottles thrown at them and graffiti spray-painted. Interstate 5 was closed in two places. Around midnight on Friday, a demonstrator in Portland was shot by an 18-year-old man “wearing black, dark hoodie and saggy blue jeans” who was angry about traffic being stalled. Another 71 were arrested Saturday evening, mostly for disorderly conduct, with 67 booked into jail overnight.

Oakland, Seattle, Indianapolis and Other Cities

Though the protests in Portland and Los Angeles have gotten much of the media’s attention, protests in cities all across the country are descending into violence.

Protesters in Oakland started fires in street intersections and in dumpsters. One led to the closure of a Bay Area Rapid Transit station. Buildings were smashed, and a federal building was set on fire. “Full communism” was spray painted on a Wells Fargo bank in downtown Oakland. Protesters smashed a police car and put it on fire.

Only about 100 protesters showed up to riot in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, but they were violent. According to KIRO 7, “they set fires, blocked traffic and threw bottles.”

The phrase “Die whites die” was spray painted in New Orleans.

Two police officers were injured by protesters throwing rocks and seven people arrested on Saturday evening in Indianapolis. In Denver, protesters briefly shut down an interstate. The protest in New York City on Tuesday outside of Trump Tower swelled Wednesday night to 100,000, and Friday evening police arrested 11 people for disorderly conduct. A Black Lives Matter ‘anti-bullying’ advocate pushed an elderly Trump supporter to ground, cutting his head, outside Trump Tower in NYC.

So many protesters hit the streets in downtown Chicago on Wednesday that the area was “shut down.” Protesters stopped traffic on Interstate 95 in Miami. Protesters blocked traffic in Madison, Wisconsin and Interstate 80 near Iowa City. In New Orleans, the famous Lee Circle monument was completely covered in graffiti, and the phrase “Die whites die” spray painted in surrounding areas. An effigy of Trump was burned and a bank’s windows shattered.

In Oakland, demonstrators spray painted “Kill Trump” graffiti. Demonstrators in Dallas dragged and kicked an effigy of Trump and smashed windows. Protesters in Philadelphia say they intend to continue demonstrating every day until Trump’s inauguration.

Violent Incidents and Threats

Though the protests have gotten most attention, individuals in other places have suffered acts of anti-Trump violence. Here are some examples:

• A high school girl near San Francisco was beaten to the ground by another girl after she posted her support of Trump on Instagram.
• A mob of young black men beat a white man in Chicago reportedly because they believed he had voted for Trump, then dragged him through the streets hanging out the back of his car.
• An 11-year-old boy in Texas was attacked by classmates after telling them he voted for Trump in the class mock election, putting him in crutches.
• A Latina woman in California said on live CNN that “people have to die.”
• Calls have been made on Twitter to assassinate Trump.

 

At the same time, Trump opponents are making up incidents of violence by Trump supporters — and getting caught fabricating them. A Muslim student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette admitted to police that she made up a story about having her hijab ripped off and wallet stolen by two white male Trump supporters.

Trump and Obama Respond

Trump expressed his disappointment, tweeting, “[P]rofessional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!” Rudy Giuliani described the demonstrators as “a bunch of spoiled cry-babies.” Bill Bennett described the riots as a “tantrum [that] our gal lost, so we’re going to protest.” Breitbart sarcastically characterized the protests as “triggered.”

Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2016

President Obama could call on the rioters to stop the violence, but hasn’t. Considering most of the rioting is taking place in the downtown areas of large, blue cities, the demonstrators are primarily causing damage to themselves.

 

Follow Rachel on Twitter at Rach_IC.