A photojournalist who spent years covering conflicts in the Middle East was brutally attacked while covering an anti-Trump protest in Oakland, California.

Kyle Ludowitz was left with a fractured cheekbone and abrasions when four men attacked him on Wednesday night as he took photos of protesters wreaking havoc across the city.

The 27-year-old was hospitalized and had both his cameras, which were worth $5,000, destroyed in the violent attack.

'I was mostly being punched in the face until I fell to the ground. I tried to protect my gear and they started kicking,' Mr Ludowitz told Dailymail.com.

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Kyle Ludowitz, 27, was hospitalized with a fractured cheekbone and abrasions when he was brutally attacked by four people at an anti-Trump protest in Oakland, California on Wednesday

A camera he had been holding in his hand was torn from him and stolen, while another hanging around his neck was smashed into pieces.

Mr Ludowitz said his attackers, who were anarchists wearing masks, assaulted him as he was taking photos of them looting businesses and smashing windows with rocks.

He added that he had never really experienced anything like it.

'I went to the ER, I didn't have a concussion but had a fractured cheekbone and a few cuts and abrasions, swelling and a fat lip,' he said.

'I definitely wasn't expecting this to happen.

'I was expecting a stronger stand off between police and protesters. Definitely not the level of destruction to the city as a whole.'

More than 6,000 protesters - some masked - were seen on the streets of Oakland on Wednesday night when an initially peaceful march down a cop-lined street turned nasty

Kyle, who has covered conflicts in the Middle East (pictured in Israel), said he has never really experienced anything like what happened in Oakland on Wednesday

Police officers clear a path into a burning building during an anti-Trump protest in Oakland

Mr Ludowitz, a graduate student studying photojournalism at UC Berkeley, was released from hospital at 1am on Thursday and is planning to head straight back out to continue shooting the protests.

More than 6,000 protesters - some masked - were seen on the streets of Oakland on Wednesday night when an initially peaceful march down a cop-lined street turned nasty.

Some protesters threw bottles at officers and torched a police car, while an office block was also attacked, smeared with 'f*** Trump' and 'kill Trump' graffiti.

Police launched tear gas and protesters lit fires, in what became by some distance the most violent of the many protests against the election of Donald Trump.

A protester throws a bottle at police officers as violence boiled over after a tumultuous 24 hours

Planks of wood, cones and other detritus is set alight in the city, close to San Francisco

Trump's poll-defying win has sparked a wave of similar rallies across the country.

Thousands more filled streets in Los Angeles before taking over the 110 Freeway while other protesters gathered outside City Hall, lighting fires and waving Trump heads on sticks.

In New York, home of the President-elect, at least 30 people were arrested when police cracked down on twin demonstrations in Columbus Circle and at Trump Tower.

As many as 7,500 demonstrators were believed to have been split between the two locations, chanting 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Donald Trump, go away, racist, sexist, anti-gay.'

Protesters also smashed up this police cruiser during the riot on Wednesday evening