US students walk out of class to protest Trump election

Hundreds of US students have taken to the streets of Washington, DC, to protest against President-elect Donald Trump as the movement is gaining momentum across the country.

Over 2,000 middle school and high school students ditched classes Tuesday afternoon and began their march at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue before heading to Capitol Hill and the Supreme Court.

They were carrying signs and chanting, “Love trumps hate” and, “Students united, We will not be divided.”

“DC has been a city in mourning since Nov. 8,” said Ben Dormus, one of the students, who was leading the demonstration. “There was a lot of unspoken tension.”

The protesters said they know their demonstrations would not change the outcome of the election, but said they wanted to make their demands heard.

“We want him to have a sneak peek of what we want,” said 17-year-old Kimberly Manalang, a senior at Wilson.

They also said they wanted Trump to see they are engaged and even convince him to change some of his opinions.

During his presidential campaign, Trump came under attack due to his controversial remarks on climate change, undocumented immigrants, Muslim Americans and so forth.

Undocumented student Brenda Valencia, 19, was wearing a sign that read, “Undocumented, Unapologetic and Unafraid.”

“I feel like I am trying to represent some undocumented students to show they are not afraid,” Valencia said. “We have a lot to fight for.”

Another student, 17-year-old Pearl Strand, said, “We are a diverse school and accepting environment, and we feel the Trump administration is going to try and divide us.”

On November 8, Trump routed his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, winning 290 of the total 538 electoral votes, compared to Clinton’s 228. However, in the popular vote, Clinton is ahead of Trump by about one million votes.

Since then, many protests have been held across the US and several demonstrators have been arrested.