Video (00:49) : After a rally outside the State Capitol, some protesters marched in downtown St. Paul, blocking some traffic. 
 
 A protest that started with about 100 people at the Minnesota State Capitol grew quickly Wednesday night as it moved first to John Ireland Boulevard then to downtown St. Paul. 
 
 Protesters, who chanted and carried signs, blocked some downtown streets. Their ranks grew as they marched west on University Avenue, blocking both sides of the street and shouting expletives about Donald Trump in English and Spanish. 
 
 The group, which peaked at about 300 people, circled back downtown and, at 10:35 p.m., were at St. Anthony Avenue and Marion Street, St. Paul police said. Officers were there directing traffic, but not interfering with the protest. There was no violence, police said. 
 
 The protest was one of several in U.S. cities in the wake of Tuesday’s election of the GOP candidate, notably in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Detroit and Portland, Ore. 
 
 “This is about what’s going to be done in our name,” said Peter Rachleff, a former Macalester College professor. “We’re all responsible. We’re better than this.” 
 
 Bobbie Scott said, “I’m here because I feel I have to be here. Other work will come later, but for now, I’m here.” 
 
 Gallery: Trump protest at the Minnesota Capitol Gallery: Trump protest at the Minnesota Capitol 
 
 Callia Blake, 17, and her 15-year-old friend aren’t old enough to vote yet, but came out to protest Trump’s ascension, too. “This guy, he’s a rapist, he just is awful,” she said. “I can’t take that; I can’t do it.” 
 
 JoAnn Hendricks, 67, was there with her friend, LaVonne Ellington, 80, who served as a poll watcher on Tuesday. “LaVonne and I didn’t vote for Trump. I’m not a ‘Trumpladite,’ ” Hendricks said. “That’s why we’re here. We didn’t know what else to do. I’m really sad.” 
 
 Earlier, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, some students had a shouting match over the election. 
 
 Students were struggling to digest the results of one of the most bitter presidential elections in memory. 
 
 “I guess it’s really setting in right now,” said Sam Wondimu, 20, a U health services major who was one of dozens of students gathered around a single laptop at the Black Student Union, watching as President Obama spoke about Trump’s election. “There’s a considerable amount of sadness,” Wondimu said, and “I guess a bit of fear.” 
 
 Moments later, a clash broke out between a black student and a white student wearing a Trump “Make America Great Again” hat just outside the black student group’s headquarters at Coffman Memorial Union. 
 
 Matthew Selmen, 19, said he was doing his homework when another man noticed his hat and started yelling at him, accusing him of being a racist. Selmen videotaped the incident, saying the man threatened him before leaving. 
 
 “I think it really comes down to ignorance on behalf of both sides,” he said, insisting that students were jumping to conclusions because he was a Trump supporter. “I don’t support everything he says or does,” he said, but “if we can’t have a conversation here, I don’t think that’s right.” 
 
 Others, though, wondered if Selmen meant to be provocative. “This is the second floor of Coffman, this is where multicultural students come,” said Keren Habtes, a journalism and history major. “So you come here with that hat? It seemed like it was very divisive.” 
 
 At Macalester, President Brian Rosenberg sent a campuswide e-mail Wednesday, noting that many on the St. Paul campus are feeling “grief, fear, anger [and] bewilderment” in the wake of the election and encouraging anyone “overwhelmed by these feelings” to seek help from the counseling center or other campus services. 
 
 In La Crosse, Wis., meanwhile, Chancellor Joe Gow of the University of Wisconsin denounced what he called a hate crime after someone scrawled the words “go home” followed by a racist epithet on an off-campus student residence. “No members of the [university] community should ever have to experience this kind of hate and intimidation,” he wrote in a campus e-mail. While he did not mention the racially charged presidential campaign, he wrote that hate crimes “do not occur in isolation,” and called on the campus “to work to create a climate of inclusion and respect.” 
 
 Racist graffiti at Maple Grove High School, shared on social media by students, has prompted an investigation, school district officials said. 
 
 “I’m horrified by this action, which goes against everything for which our school stands; it is completely contrary to our core values, both as a school and as a district,” Principal Bart Becker wrote in a letter sent to families of students. “We will take swift and appropriate action based on the investigation findings.” 
 
 Staff writers Rochelle Olson and Beatrice Dupuy contributed to this report. pat.pheifer@startribune.com 612-673-7252 
 
 maura.lerner@startribune.com 612-673-7384 ||||| Police confront protesters during a demonstration against President-elect Donald Trump, early Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police confront protesters during a demonstration against President-elect Donald Trump, early Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) (Associated Press) 
 
 CHICAGO (AP) — The raw divisions exposed by the presidential race were on full display across America on Wednesday, as protesters flooded city streets to condemn Donald Trump's election in demonstrations that police said were mostly peaceful. 
 
 From New England to heartland cities like Kansas City and along the West Coast, many thousands of demonstrators carried flags and anti-Trump signs, disrupting traffic and declaring that they refused to accept Trump's triumph. 
 
 In Chicago, where thousands had recently poured into the streets to celebrate the Chicago Cubs' first World Series victory in over a century, several thousand people marched through the Loop. They gathered outside Trump Tower, chanting "Not my president!" 
 
 Chicago resident Michael Burke said he believes the president-elect will "divide the country and stir up hatred." He added there was a constitutional duty not to accept that outcome. 
 
 A similar protest in Manhattan drew about 1,000 people. Outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown, police installed barricades to keep the demonstrators at bay. 
 
 Hundreds of protesters gathered near Philadelphia's City Hall despite chilly, wet weather. Participants — who included both supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost to Clinton in the primary — expressed anger at both Republicans and Democrats over the election's outcome. 
 
 In Boston, thousands of anti-Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting "Trump's a racist" and carrying signs that said "Impeach Trump" and "Abolish Electoral College." Clinton appears to be on pace to win the popular vote, despite losing the electoral count that decides the presidential race. 
 
 The protesters gathered on Boston Common before marching toward the Massachusetts Statehouse, with beefed-up security including extra police officers. 
 
 A protest that began at the Minnesota State Capitol Tuesday night with about 100 people swelled at is moved into downtown St. Paul, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Protesters blocked downtown streets and traveled west on University Avenue where they shouted expletives about Trump in English and Spanish. 
 
 There were other Midwest protest marches in Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri. 
 
 In Des Moines, Iowa, hundreds of students walked out of area high schools at 10:30 a.m. to protest Trump's victory, the Des Moines Register reported. The protests, which were coordinated on social media, lasted 15 to 45 minutes. 
 
 Marchers protesting Trump's election chanted and carried signs in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. 
 
 Media outlets broadcast video Wednesday night showing a peaceful crowd in front of the new downtown hotel. Many chanted "No racist USA, no Trump, no KKK." 
 
 Another group stood outside the White House. They held candles, listened to speeches and sang songs. 
 
 Dallas activists gathered by the dozens outside the city's sports arena, the American Airlines Center. 
 
 In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland, burned American flags and forced a delay for trains on two light-rail lines. Earlier, the protest in downtown drew several Trump supporters, who taunted the demonstrators with signs. A lone Trump supporter was chased across Pioneer Courthouse Square and hit in the back with a skateboard before others intervened. 
 
 Several thousand chanting, sign-waving people gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, California. A night earlier, in the hours after Trump won the election, Oakland demonstrators broke windows and did other damage. 
 
 In San Francisco, hundreds are marching along Market Avenue, one of the city's main avenues, to join a vigil in the Castro District, a predominantly gay neighborhood. 
 
 In Los Angeles, protesters on the steps of City Hall burned a giant papier mache Trump head in protest, later, in the streets they whacked a Trump piñata. 
 
 Hundreds massed in downtown Seattle streets. 
 
 Many held anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter signs and chanted slogans, including "Misogyny has to go," and "The people united, will never be defeated." 
 
 Five people were shot and injured in an area near the protest, but police said the shootings and the demonstration were unrelated. 
 
 Back in New York, several groups of protesters caused massive gridlock as police mobilized to contain them under a light rain. 
 
 They held signs that read "Trump Makes America Hate" and chanted "hey, hey, ho, ho Donald Trump has got to go." and "Impeach Trump."
– The raw divisions exposed by the presidential race were on full display across America on Wednesday, as protesters flooded city streets to condemn Donald Trump's election in demonstrations that police said were mostly peaceful. From New England to heartland cities like Kansas City and along the West Coast, many thousands of demonstrators carried flags and anti-Trump signs, disrupting traffic and declaring that they refused to accept Trump's triumph, the AP reports. In Chicago, several thousand people marched through the Loop and gathered outside Trump Tower, chanting "Not my president!" A similar protest in Manhattan drew about 1,000 people. Outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown, police installed barricades to keep the demonstrators at bay. Around the country: Hundreds of protesters gathered near Philadelphia's City Hall despite chilly, wet weather. Participants expressed anger at both Republicans and Democrats over the election's outcome. A protest that began at the Minnesota State Capitol Wednesday night with about 100 people swelled to around 300 as it moved into downtown St. Paul, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Protesters blocked downtown streets and traveled west on University Avenue where they shouted expletives about Trump in English and Spanish. There were other Midwest protest marches in Omaha, Neb., and Kansas City, Mo. In Des Moines, Iowa, hundreds of students walked out of area high schools at 10:30am to protest Trump's victory, the Des Moines Register reports. Students also walked out in cities including Portland, Phoenix, and Boulder. In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland, burned American flags, and forced a delay for trains on two light-rail lines. Several thousand chanting, sign-waving people gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif. A night earlier, in the hours after Trump won the election, Oakland demonstrators broke windows and did other damage. In Los Angeles, protesters on the steps of City Hall burned a giant papier mache Trump head in protest. Later, in the streets they whacked a Trump piñata. Hundreds massed in downtown Seattle streets. Many held anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter signs and chanted slogans, including "Misogyny has to go," and "The people united, will never be defeated." Five people were shot and injured in an area near the protest, but police said the shootings and the demonstration were unrelated.