65 Arrested at NYC Trump Protest, Including Group of Journalists

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Sixty-five people were arrested in the New York City protests against President-elect Donald Trump late Wednesday night, an NYPD spokesperson told Patch.

The NYPD spokesperson would not say how many of the protesters were still in custody by Thursday afternoon.

Traffic heading both directions on 56th Street between Madison and Sixth avenues was closed Thursday due to police activity, the NYPD announced. Police said commuters should avoid those streets.

One of the arrested protesters was a man who attended with his 15-year-old daughter, according to witnesses.

E.J. Fox, a journalist covering the protests, was also arrested. "I am grateful we were only held from roughly 9 p.m to 2 a.m.," he said. "It seemed like most of the 13 people I was arrested with were in the wrong place at the wrong time at Herald Square."

"As far as I can tell," Fox said, "they made a line across 34th to stop the march from continuing up Broadway, and a few non-protesters were arrested. One was an [Fashion Institute of Technology] professor who said he had just exited the subway when he was arrested."

"I would hope a Trump presidency hasn't affected the behavior of the NYPD," Fox added.

In the aftermath of the protests and arrests, the NYPD was aiding the Secret Service in increasing security outside Trump Tower on Thursday, a police spokesperson said. A couple days earlier, garbage trucks filled with sand had been parked outside the building to block possible car bombs — and the trucks haven't budged since.

There are also now concrete barriers that say "NYPD" set up across 56th Street and Fifth Avenue, according to witnesses.

A chaotic scene unfolded outside Trump Tower on the rainy Wednesday night after Election Day in Midtown Manhattan. Thousands surrounded the building, chanting "Not my president!" and "Dump Trump." Others burned American flags and climbed city lamp posts.

The NYPD reportedly barricaded off Trump Tower from the crowd, blocked off city streets and even evacuated a city bus that got stuck in the crowd.

>>>Read Patch's full coverage of the Wednesday night protests.

Photo by Sarah Kaufman/Patch