U.S. protesters plan fifth day of marches against Trump presidency

Demonstrators across the United States planned to take to the streets for a fifth straight day on Sunday to protest the election of Donald Trump, as the president-elect sparred on social media with one of the nation's largest newspapers.

Protests were scheduled for Sunday afternoon in New York City and Oakland, California, according to online announcements.

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

Largely peaceful demonstrators 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.

Chanting "Not my president" and "love trumps hate," people marched in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere on Saturday, saying Trump threatens their civil and human rights.

Civil rights groups have monitored violence against U.S. 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, a Republican, resumed his complaints against the media on Sunday on Twitter, attacking the New York Times for coverage that he said was "very poor and highly inaccurate."

"The @nytimes sent a letter to their subscribers apologizing for their BAD coverage of me. I wonder if it will change - doubt it?" Trump wrote.

The newspaper published a letter in Sunday's editions from publisher Arthur Sulzberger and executive editor Dean Baquet, not apologizing, but thanking readers for their loyalty and asking how news outlets underestimated Trump's support.

The Times plans to "hold power to account, impartially and unflinchingly" during the Trump presidency, they wrote.

MORE THAN 20 ARRESTED

Organizers of the weekend protests said they wanted to build on momentum after several nights of unrest triggered by the real-estate mogul's surprise win.

Police in Portland, Oregon, where a protester was shot but not seriously injured early on Saturday, said they arrested more than 20 people late Saturday after protesters tossed burning flares and bottles at them and refused orders to disperse.

In New York, several thousand protesters marched peacefully up Fifth Avenue before filling the streets at the foot of Trump Tower, the president-elect's skyscraper home.

"We're horrified the country has elected an incredibly unqualified, misogynist racist on a platform that was just totally hateful," said Mary Florin-McBride, 62, a retired banker from New York who held a sign reading "No Fascism in America."

There were also demonstrations in Chicago and Los Angeles, where several thousand protesters gathered beneath MacArthur Park's palm trees holding placards including "Dump Trump" and "Minorities Matter," before marching toward downtown.

Some waved American, Mexican or rainbow flags. Holding a "Keep Love Legal" sign, 25-year-old gay Los Angeles resident Alex Seedman called Trump a fascist and feared he would repeal marriage equality.

Evelyne Werzola, 46, an immigrant from South Africa, said she had seen what a police state could do.

"I've seen people oppressed. And this is like a heartbreak of the American dream for me," Ms. Werzola said. "So I'm fighting to keep what America has stood for alive."

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, Ms. Conway said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that if Democrat Hillary Clinton had won and Trump supporters had protested, "people would be freaking out that his supporters were not accepting election results." (Additional reporting by Alana Wise in Washington, Jane Ross in Los Angeles and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by David Ingram and Daniel Wallis; Editing by James Dalgleish)