Small but determined crowd gathers in Columbia for anti-Trump rally

About 200 protesters gathered at the S.C. State House and marched through downtown Columbia Friday night, angrily denouncing president-elect Donald Trump as a racist and a bigot.

“Not my president,” they chanted, holding signs that read “Dump Trump,” “Stronger together and “Nasty women against Trump” as they walked up and down Main and Gervais streets.

Columbia on Friday became the latest in a long list of cities to host rallies protesting the Republican New York businessman’s election early Wednesday morning.

Trump secured the 270 Electoral College votes needed to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote to her.

“We just hope it makes a statement,” said Keith Stephenson, 59, an archaeologist from Columbia who joined the protest Friday night. “We realize it won’t do much in the whole election process, but we hope it makes the statement that this is not the president-elect that we voted for or want or can run this country.”

The protest was loud but peaceful, save for a few verbal spats between protesters and Trump supporters.

“Love trumps hate” likely was the most popular chant.

Cars honked as they rode past, and some passengers leaned out of windows to offer encouragement or shout obscenities.

A group of veterans tagged along to make sure no protesters burned an American flag.

A protest in Charleston is planned for Saturday.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 10:11 PM with the headline "Small but determined crowd gathers in Columbia for anti-Trump rally."