Officers blocked freeways so protesters could not get in lanes and disrupt traffic on Thursday night as marchers gathered downtown during another night of protests in the wake of this week's presidential election.
Hundreds of protesters -- a significantly smaller number compared to Wednesday night's freeway-blocking crowd -- marched south on Figueroa Street as a large presence of California Highway Patrol officers patrolled the area, preventing demonstrators from getting on the 110 Freeway.
About 185 arrests were reported early Friday morning. An officer who tried to stop a protester from vandalizing LAPD property with graffiti was injured during the confrontation, according to police.
The officers was hospitalized, but details regarding injuries were not immediately available.
At one point, tensions rose as demonstrators knocked down a temporary fence protecting a construction site on Olive Street. A line of officers surged into the crowd, forming a line, keeping crowds from entering the area. Later in the night, LAPD started releasing the crowd in small groups. Protesters walked out, hands up in the air.
Dozens of protesters were arrested in downtown Los Angeles as of early Friday morning, LAPD citing unlawful assembly. There were no major damages made.
Earlier, protesters disrupted traffic just before the evening commute on along a stretch of the 10 Freeway near Boyle Heights.
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The late afternoon protests capped a day of walkouts by students who blocked sidewalks and streets during Thursday in Los Angeles.
The walkouts followed similar school protests Wednesday, a day after billionaire Manhattan businessman Donald Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. On Wednesday night, protesters clogged a freeway near downtown Los Angeles in a demonstration that ended with nearly 30 arrests.
Walkouts were reported Thursday at Helen Bernstein High School in Hollywood, Legacy High School in South Gate and John Marshall High School in the Los Feliz area northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Aerial video showed at least two Los Angeles Police Department vehicles alongside another group of students as they peacefully marched near West Adams High School in the Pico-Union neighborhood. Officers could be seen walking with students for their safety.
"The 2016 Presidential Election provides many teachable moments in L.A. Unified's classrooms," Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Michelle King said in a statement. "We teach our students that they have a right to freedom of speech. They are also allowed to participate in peaceful demonstrations on campus during non-instructional times, within parameters set by administrators. They are not permitted to leave school."
On Wednesday night, 29 people were arrested after they entered the 101 Freeway as part of a demonstration in downtown Los Angeles. Protesters also shut down both sides of the 110 Freeway in the downtown area at 3rd Street after walking on lanes through traffic.
With the exception of some protesters throwing rocks at officers and vandalizing portions of the freeway, LAPD officials said the protest had been non-violent. Social media posts showed a bus, the Los Angeles Times building and a news live truck spray painted with anti-Trump graffiti reading "F--- Trump."
In San Francisco, high school students chanted "not my president" and waved rainbow and Mexican flags Thursday as they marched through the city's downtown in protest of Republican Donald Trump's presidential win. The students were part of a group of thousands who staged a citywide walkout.
Bystanders in the heavily Democratic city high-fived them from the sidelines.
Thousands have taken to the streets around the country since Tuesday's election. Demonstrators have disrupted traffic, burned a giant papier-mache Trump head and declared that they refused to accept Trump's victory.
Demonstrations have been held in New England, the Midwest and the West Coast.
Trump supporters have used social media to express their scorn of the protests, saying demonstrators are hypocrites for not accepting the democratic process because they don't like the results.
