Protests over Trump election enter day five

Demonstrators in major US cities took to the streets for a fifth straight day on Sunday to protest President-elect Donald Trump, whose campaign manager said President Barack Obama and Democrat Hillary Clinton should do more to support a peaceful transition.

Following several nights of unrest, crowds of people marched in parks in New York City and San Francisco, and planned to do so in Oakland, California, according to social media.

A few thousand joined a march at the south end of New York's Central Park, beginning at a Trump property on Columbus Circle and walked toward the real estate mogul's skyscraper headquarters less than a mile away.

They chanted, "Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcomed here!" and "We are here to stay!"

Demonstrators carried signs in English and Spanish saying things like "Hate won't make us great".

Thousands in several cities have demonstrated since the results from Tuesday's election showed Trump, a Republican, lost the popular tally but gained enough votes in the 538-person Electoral College to win the presidency, surprising the world.

Largely peaceful demonstrators in urban areas have said Trump threatens their civil and human rights. They have decried Trump's campaign promises to restrict immigration and register Muslims, as well as allegations the former reality-TV star sexually abused women.

Dozens have been arrested and a handful of police injured.

In San Francisco on Sunday, about 1,000 people marched through Golden Gate Park toward a beach where they chanted, "Let's make waves." They held signs such as "I resist racism" and "Down with the Trumps."

Other protests were expected Sunday in St Louis, Philadelphia, Denver, as well as smaller cities like Worcester, Massachusetts and Iowa City, Iowa.

In Los Angeles, an estimated 8,000 people marched on Saturday to condemn what they saw as Trump's hate speech about Muslims, his pledge to deport people in the country illegally and crude comments about women.

Civil rights groups have monitored violence against US minorities since Trump's win, citing reports of attacks on women in Islamic head scarves, of racist graffiti and of bullying of immigrant children. They have called on Trump to denounce the attacks.

Trump said he was "so saddened" to hear of instances of violence by some of his supporters against minorities, according to a transcript released on Sunday of an interview with the CBS program 60 Minutes.

Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, said on Fox News on Sunday that she was sure many of the protesters were paid professionals, though she offered no proof.

Suggesting a double standard, Conway said on NBC's Meet the Press that if Clinton had won and Trump supporters had protested, "people would be freaking out that his supporters were not accepting election results".

"It's time really for President Obama and Secretary Clinton to say to these protesters, 'This man is our president,'" she said on NBC.

Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan told CNN on Sunday that protests are protected by the First Amendment as long as they are peaceful.

(China Daily USA 11/14/2016 page2)