Police arrest 11 in Portland, 50 in New York at demonstrations after U.S. vote

Police in Portland reported demonstrations, detained 11 people and confiscated fireworks, hammers and a rifle, as Oregon Governor Kate Brown initiated the National Guard in answer to protests on the night after balloting in the U.S. presidential election.

In New York, police announced they had made about 50 suspensions in demonstrations that develop in the city late on Wednesday.

Protests, mostly small and nonviolent, were held in centres beyond the United States by followers of Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump has maintained victory and asked for an end to the counting of votes in states that will decide the result of Tuesday’s election. Biden has stated he understands he is on 8to win once the ballots are counted.

Four arrests were made in Denver as demonstrators fought with police, the Denver Police Department responded. Arrests were also created during protests in Minneapolis after agitators blocked traffic, local police there announced.

Activists also staged assemblies in Atlanta, Detroit and Oakland needing that vote counts continue unchecked.

“All of the gatherings that were announced protests were downtown,” a Portland Police spokesperson told.

“There have been 11 arrests tonight, and we have not obtained any reports of damages.”

Local partners of Protect the Results - a combination of more than 165 grassroots groups, support groups and labour unions - have created more than 100 events organised across the nation between Wednesday and Saturday.

Earlier on Wednesday, about 100 people assembled for an interfaith event before a proposed march through midtown Detroit, in the battleground state of Michigan, to require a full election tally and a quiet development of power.

Going into the Nov. 3 elections, the United States had seen months of demonstrations following the murder in May of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Portland has seen months of shows since Floyd’s death, especially in the city’s downtown area, with demonstrations infrequently changing into conflicts between protestors and police as well as between right- and left-wing groups.