11-10-2016-ERNIE ALLEN’S-TOP STORY-

CHICAGO (AP) — Thousands of protesters around the country took to the streets Wednesday to condemn the election of Donald Trump as president.

The demonstrations were mostly peaceful, authorities said.

In Chicago, several thousand people marched through the Loop and gathered outside Trump Tower, chanting “Not my president!”

Chicago resident Michael Burke said he believes the president-elect will “divide the country and stir up hatred.” He added there was a constitutional duty not to accept that.

A similar protest in Manhattan drew about 1,000 people. Outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown, police installed barricades to keep the demonstrators at bay.

Hundreds of protesters gathered near Philadelphia’s City Hall despite chilly, wet weather. Participants — who included both supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost to Clinton in the primary — expressed anger at both Republicans and Democrats over the election’s outcome.

In Boston, thousands of anti-Donald Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting “Trump’s a racist” and carrying signs that said “Impeach Trump” and “Abolish Electoral College.”

The protesters gathered on Boston Common before marching toward the Massachusetts Statehouse, with beefed-up security including extra police officers.

Hundreds of University of Texas students spilled out of classrooms to march through downtown Austin. They marched along streets near the Texas Capitol, then briefly blocked a crowded traffic bridge.

Marchers protesting Donald Trump’s election as president chanted and carried signs in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Local media outlets broadcast video Wednesday night showing a peaceful crowd in front of the new downtown hotel. Many chanted “No racist USA, no trump, no KKK.”

Another group stood outside the White House. They held candles, listened to speeches and sang songs.

Earlier Wednesday, protesters at American University burned U.S. flags on campus.

In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland, burned American flags and forced a delay for trains on two light-rail lines. Earlier the protest in downtown drew several Trump supporters, who taunted the demonstrators with signs. At one point, a lone Trump supporter was chased across Pioneer Courthouse Square and hit in the back with a skateboard before others intervened.

Protests also were reported at a number of universities in California and Connecticut, while several hundred people marched in San Francisco and others gathered outside City Hall in Los Angeles.

The only major violence was reported in Oakland, California, during a protest that began shortly before midnight and lasted into early Wednesday morning.

Some demonstrators set garbage bins on fire, broke windows and sprayed graffiti at five businesses in the downtown area, police said. No arrests were made.

Another protest began Wednesday evening downtown, with several hundred chanting, sign-waving people gathering in Frank Ogawa Plaza.

In San Francisco, hundreds are marching along Market Avenue, one of the city’s main avenues, to join a vigil in the Castro District, a predominantly gay neighborhood.

AP