ATLANTA — More than 100 protesters hit the streets of Atlanta Wednesday night to make it clear that they are not ready to accept Donald Trump as their president.
"The energy behind this group is just to heal. And just to let the American people know that this is not the president we want," protester Sakima Stephens told Channel 2’s Nefertiti Jaquez.
Their frustration came hours after Trump delivered his victory speech in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
"We are angry, we are hurt, we are in disbelief and in shock," Stephens said.
They're upset over the outcome of this year's presidential election because they don't feel Trump is representative of them, as minorities, immigrants and members of the LGBT community.
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With tempers flaring, they gathered at Piedmont Park before marching through the rest of midtown Atlanta.
Jaquez was with the crowds Wednesday night as they trekked from the park to Peachtree Street and parked themselves in the middle of the street.
Atlanta police were called out to clear crowds once the group brought traffic to a screeching halt underneath the bright lights of the Fox Theatre.
"No one I know, right now here, feels comfortable with Trump being the president,” protester Harris Geiger told Jaquez.
Protesters said they wanted to make sure they were heard in every way to show there is a huge group of people who disagree with the fact that Trump was voted into office.
“We are not just young tyrants disturbing the city. We are citizens, and vote, and pay taxes, and we need to be appreciated and heard,” Stephens said.
Atlanta police confirmed to Jaquez they made one arrest during Wednesday's protest.
From New England to heartland cities like Kansas City and along the West Coast, demonstrators carried flags and anti-Trump signs, disrupting traffic and declaring that they refused to accept Trump's triumph.
In Chicago, where thousands had recently poured into the streets to celebrate the Chicago Cubs' first World Series victory in over a century, several thousand people marched through the Loop. They 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 outcome.
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-Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting "Trump's a racist" and carrying signs that said "Impeach Trump" and "Abolish Electoral College." Clinton appears to be on pace to win the popular vote, despite losing the electoral count that decides the presidential race.
The protesters gathered on Boston Common before marching toward the Massachusetts Statehouse, with beefed-up security including extra police officers.
Protests flared at universities in California and Connecticut, while several hundred people marched in San Francisco and others gathered outside City Hall in Los Angeles. And they spread south to Richmond, Virginia, and to middle American cities like Kansas City and Omaha, Nebraska.
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 Trump's election as president chanted and carried signs in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
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. A lone Trump supporter was chased across Pioneer Courthouse Square and hit in the back with a skateboard before others intervened.
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.
Hundreds massed in downtown Seattle streets.
Many held anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter signs and chanted slogans, including "Misogyny has to go," and "The people united, will never be defeated."
At Evergreen State College south of Seattle, scores of students walked out of classes Wednesday to gather with anti-Trump signs.
Back in New York, several groups of protesters caused massive gridlock as police mobilized to contain them under a light rain.
They held signs that read "Trump Makes America Hate" and chanted "hey, hey, ho, ho Donald Trump has got to go." and "Impeach Trump."