A crowd of over 500 protesters stood in Cleveland Public Square Friday night for the “Trump is Not My President” protest to voice disapproval of President-elect Donald Trump.

Holiday lights illuminated the protesters sign that bore phrases like, “Deport hate,” “America is for everyone” and “Dads against Trump” as the marchers made their way through Public Square.

While some held signs to express how they felt, others took turns with a megaphone, chanting “No Trump, no KKK, no fascism USA.”

Martins Krebs, a 24-year-old from Rocky River, Ohio, said he and a few of his friends came up with this event five days ago, when they realized people who had high tensions since the election, needed an outlet.

“We started it off by creating a Facebook page, inviting everyone we know and telling them to invite everyone they know,” Krebs said. “We then went to different colleges, like Baldwin Wallace (University) and Cleveland State University and handed out flyers. We really aimed at students because we are the … future.”

Carl Ricco, a 36-year-old from Cleveland who helped Krebs form the protest, said he doesn’t want Trump to negatively affect people. 

“A lot of people wanted to say something about the outcome of the election, but they didn’t have a place to say it and that’s what I was really thinking about,” Ricco said. “I don’t want him to affect the rights of everybody around, so we got all these people that come from different backgrounds and I wanted people to see that.”

Around 7 p.m., protesters took to the streets and walked peacefully around the city, holding their signs high as they finished their march back at Public Square.

Cleveland police monitored the protest while stopping traffic to ensure the safety of the protesters as they made their way around the city.

“After tonight, we aren’t finished,” Krebs said. “We will continue to form protests like these and help get voices heard. We have a lot of work to do.”

Lydia Taylor is an administration reporter. Contact her at [email protected].