As protests against President-elect Donald Trump continued for a second straight day around the U.S., students at some Southern California schools walked out of classes while others blocked a freeway as they staged anti-Trump demonstrations on Thursday.
A large group of high school and university students participated in the protests on the USC and UCLA campuses in the early afternoon, aerial footage from Sky5 and social media posts showed.
A number of students walked off the University of Southern California campus and began marching down Exposition Park Boulevard as they headed for Figueroa Street, prompting the Los Angeles Police Department to close a stretch of road in both directions, USC student news outlet Annenberg Media reported.
The protesters appeared to be mostly high school students from the area.
Dozens of students participated in a march near USC, aerial video showed. At one point, a group of running protesters appeared to be attempting to enter the 110 Freeway before changing course.
As the students continued on area streets, they were surrounded by multiple police motorcycles and patrol cars, according to the footage.
The manager of a 7-Eleven near Hoover Street and Washington Boulevard said dozens of the young protesters poured into the store, and a few stole items such as chips and drinks. All the students were in and out within about a minute, and the incident was captured on surveillance video.
The store was left messy, but no one was hurt and no damage was done, the manager said.
Roughly 4,000 students from 16 different Los Angeles Unified School District high schools left campus by the afternoon, the Los Angeles Times reported. Many students ended up at USC of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles.
In another demonstration near Cal State Los Angeles, a group of protesters apparently ran onto the 10 Freeway, blocking traffic and leaving both sides of the roadway completely jammed during the afternoon rush hour, aerial footage showed.
Most of the protesters were removed by 3:20 p.m., and both sides of the freeway were reopened shortly after that.
Others students took part in protests in Southern California during the day, including at UCLA, where many gathered at Royce Quad on the Westwood campus. Some held signs, and many chanted “not our president,” a popular refrain that has been heard at demonstrations across the country.
The protests happened after a massive demonstration that started Wednesday evening resulted in 28 arrests and the hourslong shut down of a stretch of the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A. overnight.
#UCLAProtest #LoveTrumpsHate pic.twitter.com/buBh0Yrsqw
— Brenda (@larabrenda95) November 10, 2016
One group is now headed up Hoover. Other students are still at Tommy Trojan, linking arms and forming a wall. #TrumpProtestUSC pic.twitter.com/Vn8WXmxWJU
— USC Annenberg Media (@AnnenbergMedia) November 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/suparman2daResQ/status/796811932695076864
Students have climbed onto buildings and hold hands in solidarity #USCTrumpProtest #GenZVoice #PoliticalProtest @annenbergmedia pic.twitter.com/ysnloPrHGz
— Diana Lee (@atdianalee) November 10, 2016
KTLA’s Melissa Pamer contributed to this story.
