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Baku – APA. A protest in Portland, Oregon, against President-elect Donald Trump boiled over into what police described as a "riot" overnight Thursday after some demonstrators armed with bats smashed stores and cars, and others lit fires, NBC News reported.
Police arrested 26 people and responded with pepper spray and rubber bullets, labeling the 1,500-strong demonstration an "unlawful assembly" and a "riot" — a class-C felony.
According to Portland police, many in the crowd were trying to stop those responsible from vandalizing property and spray-painting messages such as "F--- Trump."
Video showed large crowds chanting "peaceful protest" and making the peace sign.
Trump initially tweeted saying that the "professional protesters" had been "incited by the media" and called the situation "very unfair!" He followed that up with a more conciliatory message early Friday that "the small grou Those who were vandalizing property were dubbed "anarchists" by police, who urged peaceful protesters to leave the area.
Video posted to social media appeared to show a small group of people armed with baseball bats smashing shop windows.
Dave Northfield, a reporter on the ground with NBC affiliate KGW, said that 19 cars had been smashed at a Toyota dealership, one with a cinder block.
Portland police said there had been "extensive criminal damage" and the Oregon Department of Transportation closed portions of interstates 5 and 84 as the protest swept nearby streets.
The demonstration marked the second night of protests across the country since Trump's election victory early Wednesday.
People have taken to the streets in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver and elsewhere, rallying around the slogan "not my president."
12:04
Baku – APA. Americans protesting Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election took to the streets for a second night of demonstrations and vigils in several US cities, CNN reported.
Rallies heated up in Portland, Oregon, where police publicly declared protests to be a "riot" due to "extensive criminal and dangerous behavior," according to a tweet on the police department's Twitter page.
"Crowd has been advised," the tweet added without elaboration.
Police tweeted that projectiles had been thrown at officers, and cars had been damaged.
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