Oakland Residents: Riots Have ‘Nothing to Do with Trump’

Fuck Trump Oakland (Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty)
Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty

Protests and riots exploded across California and throughout the nation for the third night after Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the presidential election. In Oakland, the East Bay Times reports, the rioting is almost out of control.

However, the link between the protests and the election is increasingly unclear. “This has nothing to do with Trump,” one resident told the Times. “It was just an excuse for people who want to get their frustrations out. It makes me feel really bad for my city.”

Other residents quoted by the Times agreed:

“This just breaks us down and it doesn’t pertain to anything,” said Serrita Panngasiri, whose family members, Laotian immigrants, are the owners. “We’re trying to get the city to put more lights out here because it gets dark and it’s very dangerous.”

On Thursday night, about 1,000 protesters in Oakland were kept at bay by police, who were determined to prevent them from blocking the freeway again. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Several incidents of graffiti, much of promoting violence and offering such plugs as “Kill Trump,” were reported. Many small street fires were set and a handful of windows were smashed. The crimes, though, did not initially appear to be as widespread as the night before.

The Times adds that the protest march in Oakland lasted for five miles.

Elsewhere, hundreds of protesters marched in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday night. “The crowd halted traffic and was mostly peaceful, but some vandalized property with graffiti, hurled bottles and launched fireworks,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Modesto Bee reports that about 100 demonstrators gathered downtown on Thursday night, chanting, “Not my president” and holding “fuck Trump” signs.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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