Protests against Donald Trump’s presidential election turned violent in the Pacific Coast city of Portland, Oregon early Saturday amid fears a Trump presidency will erode Americans’ civil rights. Demonstration organisers say more rallies are planned in the coming days in several cities across the United States.

Hundreds of protesters marched Friday through the streets of Portland, disrupting traffic and spray painting graffiti.

Portland police used tear gas and flash-bang grenades on protesters in response to demonstrators throwing burning projectiles at officers. Authorities said vandalism and assault had taken place during the rally, which organisers had billed as peaceful earlier in the day.

One demonstrator was shot in the leg early Saturday, according to witnesses. It was not immediately clear who shot the protester. No immediate details about the injured person have been released.

Police down the coast in Los Angeles said they detained 185 people, many of them for trying to blockade the city’s crowded auto freeways.

In New York, hundreds of people gathered in Washington Square Park for a “love rally” late Friday, then set out for Manhattan’s Union Square, a traditional destination for political marches, about one kilometer away. They held signs saying “Love will always trump hate” and chanted “Not my president” as they walked.

In midtown Manhattan, more demonstrators gathered near President-elect Trump’s current residence, a luxury triplex apartment in one of the city’s most exclusive shopping districts. The Trump Tower apartment building is now protected by a cordon of heavy trucks loaded with sand, and demonstrators are being kept a block away.

Anti-Trump Protests Continue Across US Cities

In Philadelphia, about 100 students from Temple University marched from their campus to City Hall to voice their concern that Trump will not unite, but rather divide the country.

Protesters blocked highways

Hundreds of people also gathered for an anti-Trump rally in Miami, where they chanted “No racists USA.” A portion of that group went off to blockade a busy highway that cuts through the south Florida city, causing traffic jams that took hours to clear.

Trump supporter Nicolas Quirico was traveling from South Beach to Miami. His car was among hundreds stopped when protesters blocked Interstate 395.

“Trump will be our president. There is no way around that, and the sooner people grasp that, the better off we will be,” he said. “There is a difference between a peaceful protest and standing in a major highway backing up traffic for 5 miles. This is wrong.”

Other demonstrations were held Friday in Atlanta, where traffic was disrupted, and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

More than 1,000 protesters took to the streets across California after night fell, including downtown Los Angeles, where more than 200 were arrested a night earlier. In Bakersfield, where Trump is far more popular than in most of the state, some held signs reading “Anti-Trump, Pro-USA.”

Small protests also were held in Detroit; Minneapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Olympia, Washington and Iowa City.

Trump has responded to the protests with two notes on Twitter that sent a mixed message about his reaction. Late Thursday, he complained that “professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”

Perhaps responding to those who thought his initial message was un-presidential or inappropriate, he tweeted Friday: “Love the fact that small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud.”

•Excerpted from a VOA report. Reuters Photo shows an anti-Trump protest in progress.

Update news