Hundreds of Austinites Gather to Protest Donald Trump's Election

Hundreds of Austinites have gathered to protest the election of Donald Trump.

Update: 10:31 p.m. – Nearly nine hours later, the crowd seems to have dispersed. In that time, a number of protests and demonstrations have broken out in New York City, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.

6:23 p.m. – After heading back to the Capitol, the hours-long march is back on the Congress Avenue bridge. The city's advising drivers to use South 1st Street and Lamar Boulevard as alternative routes.

5:28 p.m. – A sizeable contingent of protestors are heading back to the Capitol to join a protest that's already in progress, KUT's Matt Largey reports. 

Credit Matt Largey

5:09 p.m. – The march has moved back to UT Campus for now, but KUT's Matt Largey reports that the group of around 400 demonstrators is planning on heading back down south to the Texas State Capitol. We'll update as more information becomes available. 

4:41 p.m. – Police are clearing Guadalupe Street as the protest moves back to UT campus. 

The demonstration started earlier this afternoon on the UT Austin campus, where scores of protestors and Trump supporters met peacefully near the UT Tower, before moving toward downtown Austin. 

Protestors marched south, partially blocking the South 1^st Street bridge before heading east, then north again on the Congress Avenue bridge, briefly blocking its four lanes. 

The hundreds of demonstrators then headed up Congress Avenue. It’s unclear whether they were heading to the Capitol or back to the UT campus.

Joining the march was newly re-elected Austin City Council Member Greg Casar,who worked with the activist group Workers Defense Project prior to his election. He released a statement earlier today lambasting the election of Trump and promising to join in on Austin protests:

Casar also spoke with KUT's Nathan Bernier about his call for resistance of a Trump presidency. 

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo also joined the march up Congress, telling CBS Austin in a Facebook Live video that he was encouraged that there had been no violence and that the road would be closed until the protest cleared.

“If it means inconveniencing some people, I’m sure they’ll get over it,” Acevedo said. 

Acevedo later took to Twitter to defend his presence among protestors, asserting that he would do the same for pro-Second Amendment rallies and emphasizing that the department respects Austinites' right to peaceful assembly. 

This story has been updated throughout.