Thousands Gather On Boston Common To Protest Trump Victory

Thousands gathered on Boston Common Wednesday night to protest Republican Donald Trump's upset victory in Tuesday's presidential election.

For many protesters, Trump's victory was a wakeup call — and a call to action.

"It was really clear to me that I needed to be out on the streets," said Jennifer Teig von Hoffman of Brighton. "I needed to be with my communities and I needed to stand with people against Trump."

Protesters marched across Boston Common to the State House before making their way down Boylston Street and through Back Bay. They chanted, "not my president" and "love trumps hate," while waving flags and carrying signs. The crowd grew as the evening went on.

Protesters said they're concerned Trump will take away rights from women, minorities, immigrants and the LGBT community.

Sabrina Barroso, a student at Suffolk University who is from Revere, told the crowd the country deserves better.

"As a Latina, as a woman, as someone who is brown, I do not feel safe right now," Barroso told the crowd. "I didn’t go out and vote yesterday for this to happen. I went out and voted, because I love my country, and I expect my country to love me back too."

Barroso said she's concerned immigrants will be criminalized. That's something Asha Hirsi also feels. She's the daughter of a Somali refugee and takes issue with Trump's rhetoric during the campaign.

"He's openly been hateful, and he's openly talked about sexual assault," Hirsi said. "That's not a president. That's not presidential behavior. He shouldn't be president, it's that simple."

But Trump will be the next president. Gabe Feldstein, a member of Socialist Alternative, which helped organize the rally, said the hope now is to work to make sure rights aren't being taken away.

"Fighting back against preventing Roe v. Wade from being overturned or further assaults on workers being able to unionize or have a higher minimum wage," Feldstein said. "I think we can expect a lot of that kind of thing coming down from Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress. So how do we organize ourselves in the best way to make sure that we’re ready to fight that at every local and national level."

For these protesters the fight starts now.

Wednesday's protest was organized via Facebook in collaboration with other groups. It was the second one that day in response to Tuesday's election results. Hundreds of protesters gathered on the State House steps Wednesday afternoon chanting, "we will not be silenced," and holding signs reading, "he will never be my president," the Associated Press reported.

Protests have also taken place across the country in other cities.

Here are more scenes from the protest Wednesday night in Boston: