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After socialist councilmember calls for massive protest, hundreds march in Seattle

Hundreds of people took to downtown Seattle streets to protest president-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday evening after a Seattle socialist councilwoman encouraged residents to fight racism.

Five people were shot in downtown Seattle about 6:50 p.m. Police say the shooting is not related to the people who were protesting in downtown. Read about the shooting here. 

Demonstrators across the nation, from Seattle to Chicago, gathered to protest Trump Wednesday. Here's how events unfolded for Seattle.

Protest at Westlake Park 

On the protest event Facebook page, more than 1,500 people said they were going to demonstrate. Hundreds of people gathered in the downtown park around 4:30 p.m. and started to march through the streets around 5:45 p.m. A group continued marching through Capitol Hill and then the U-District until nearly 9 p.m.

See photos from the protest here

The Facebook page wrote the following about the protest: “The Democratic Party has proven they are incapable of stopping Trump. The Democratic Party has failed. This is the result of the Democratic Party leadership backing Hillary Clinton instead of Bernie Sanders. It is time to build a new party of the 99%.”

Here's a real-time log of events as they happened: 

  • 8:42 p.m. The protest moves from Wallingford back toward the U-District on 45th. 
  • 8:30 p.m. The protest moves from U-District toward Wallingford. 
  • 8:15 p.m. A large police response – including bike officers – is working to keep anti-Trump protesters from getting on Interstate-5 in the U-District.
  • 8 p.m. Protesters are still marching, they are in the University District.
  • 7:30 p.m. The protest has thinned out.
  • 6:59 p.m. The main protest is continuing in Capitol Hill.
  • 6:50 p.m. The protest appears to have broken off around downtown as the march heads toward Capitol Hill.
  • 6:34 p.m. BREAKING: Seattle anti-Trump protesters are now marching in Capitol Hill.  
  • 6:11 p.m. BREAKING: Seattle officers are blocking express lanes to I-5 as protesters march in downtown.
  • 5:57 p.m. Protesters march on 4th Avenue near Pike Street. 
  • 5:45 p.m. Officers are peacefully monitoring protesters. 
  • 5:38 p.m. All Sound Transit Express bus routes with stops in downtown Seattle  experience delays due to the protest.
  • 5:30 p.m. Protesters fill the downtown streets after the rally. They move along 2nd and Pike. 
  • 5:15 p.m. Sawant speaks to the crowd telling demonstrators that "we are stronger than the billionaires" and "their capitalists system. 
  • 4:50 p.m. Anti-Trump protesters in Seattle chant: "The people united will never be defeated."
  • 4:40 p.m. KIRO 7 Chopper shows a large crowd listening to speakers who say they did not good candidates to vote for this election season. 
  • 4:30 p.m. The protest is underway in Westlake. Demonstrators hold signs with Trump's face that say, "fight racism." Watch live stream here.

Sawant calls for nationwide shutdown on Inauguration Day

In a packed post-election rally at Seattle City Hall on Wednesday afternoon, Socialist councilmember Kshama Sawant called for a massive protest on Wednesday night and a nationwide shutdown on Inauguration Day in response to president-elect Donald Trump.

>> Related: What does Trump's presidency mean for Washington state?

“I appeal to you, [Wednesday] at 4 o’clock, at Westlake [Park], let’s have a massive protest, and tell America we do not accept a racist agenda,” Sawant said. “And let’s make sure on Inauguration Day … let’s do a nationwide shutdown.”

Sawant made headlines in 2014 for being among several people arrested at Alaska Airlines headquarters in SeaTac during a demonstration protesting the company's failure to pay workers $15 an hour. Watch video here.

Other protests erupted in Seattle and along the West Coast on Wednesday morning after Trump one 270 electoral college votes.

West Seattle High School students walk out in post-election protest

Nearly 200 West Seattle High School students walked out of class in a demonstration of an upset of Donald Trump's presidency.

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The school is allowing the students to walk out and express themselves. West Seattle High School administration said that students are due to come back and have an informal assembly with those students to talk about their feelings and futures,

Seattle Public Schools released the following statement to KIRO 7 News:

"The district is supporting schools and staff on ways to best handle potential reactions from students, especially, younger students, to the election results."

"We are working with our school board to create supports."

"Schools are handling this on a case by case basis - they're still feeling-out how students are feeling."

KIRO 7 News chopper flew over the crowd chanting “He’s not my president.”

Protesters demonstrate on Capitol Hill early Wednesday morning 

About 100 protesters demonstrated early Wednesday on Capitol Hill after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.

Social media videos showed people filling the street in the block of Pike Street, Broadway, and 10th Avenue. They set fires, blocked traffic and threw bottles.

A Periscope user, who said he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, posted a video showing police lining an intersection near 10th Avenue and Pike.

A waste bin was set on fire nearly an hour later at Pine Street and Harvard Avenue.

The protesters have since dispersed and no arrests have been reported.

Protests in California and Oregon

Demonstrators angry about the election of Donald Trump smashed windows and set garbage bins on fire early Wednesday in downtown Oakland, California, joining protesters elsewhere in the country who swarmed streets in response to the election. Other protests were generally peaceful.

In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland and forced a delay for trains on two light-rail lines. Media reports said the crowd grew to about 300 people, including some who sat in the middle of a road. The crowd of anti-Trump protesters burned American flags and chanted, "That's not my president."

Get complete election coverage from kiro7.com

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