Melanie Eversley, Aamer Madhani, and Rick Jervis

USA TODAY

For the third night in a row, anti-Donald Trump demonstrators took to the streets in several big cities and on college campuses across the United States, including an outburst of smashed windows and a dumpster fire in Portland that police countered with pepper spray and flash-bang devices.

About 4,000 protesters assembled downtown late Thursday chanting “we reject the president-elect!” the Associated Press reported. Some among the crowd vandalized 19 cars at a dealership in Northeast Portland, according to a sales manager, Oregonlive.com reports. Protesters then headed west, over the Broadway Bridge and into the Pearl District, where the windows of several businesses were smashed.

The protest was mostly peaceful until demonstrators met with an anarchist group, after which demonstrators vandalized buildings, kicked cars and knocked out power, KGW-TV reported.

On Twitter, Portland police said many protesters were "trying to get anarchist groups to stop destroying property" and that "anarchists" were refusing to do so. Demonstrators repeatedly chanted "peaceful protest."

Officers ordered protesters to disperse after the demonstration turned into what they called a riot, citing "extensive criminal and dangerous behavior." At least 26 people were arrested.

Police said the crowd, which included many people armed with bats, threw projectiles at officers, who responded by pushing back against the crowd, then making arrests and using flash-bang devices, pepper spray, rubber projectiles and types of smoke or tear gas to force people to disperse.

At about 6:15 a.m. ET Friday, the president-elect tweeted: "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud! "

It was a change of tone for Trump, who weighed in on the protests Thursday evening, complaining that he took part in a "very open and successful presidential election" but now "professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"

Anti-Trump groups called for demonstrations Friday evening in Miami and West Palm Beach. Organizers of the Miami rally stressed that peaceful nature of the protests and called on demonstrators to bring signs to reflect that. "Many people voted for Trump because of an anti-establishment feeling which we embrace," protest organizers said on Facebook. "It is “him” as a solution we resist. There may be common ground with these people and this is focused on Trump, not all his supporters."

Demonstrations also took place Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minn. Protests in Madison, Wisconsin's capital, and Milwaukee, the state's most populous city, drew some of the biggest crowds, with more than 1,000 demonstrators taking to streets in both cities.

Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump surrogate, described the thousands of anti-Trump protesters that have taken to the street as “a bunch of spoiled cry-babies."

"Calm down, things are not as bad as you think," Giuliani said of the protesters in a Fox & Friends interview Thursday.

Trump calls protests 'unfair' in first controversial tweet as president-elect

Similar protests broke out across the country:

• In New York, hundreds of protesters gathered near the iconic Trump Tower for the second straight night to express their anger over the election of the businessman.

The crowd was notably young. The organizers were not yet old enough to vote, but said that they wanted to inspire young people to voice their opinions and understand that they can shape the future.

"We've got to protest," said organizer Elijah Newman, 16, of Brooklyn, as he stood with hundreds of other Millennials.

"It's not just Donald Trump — it's the system of education," he said. "New York City is like a megaphone to the entire world. It's important that we're protesting here because it will inspire and influence other people to start protesting."

• In Los Angeles, protests continued Thursday as organizers claimed they were saving their energy for the weekend, The Los Angeles Times reported. Hundreds marched onto a busy highway and brought traffic to a standstill there late Wednesday night, prompting the city's police department to arrest several demonstrators. The protest was mostly peaceful, but some vandalized property, threw bottles and launched fireworks, the Times reported.

• In Denver, protesters briefly shut down Interstate 25 near downtown. Police said demonstrators made their way onto the freeway and traffic was halted in the northbound and southbound lanes for about a half-hour. Protesters also briefly shut down interstate highways in Minneapolis and got into shoving matches with police in Oakland, Calif.

• In San Francisco, high-spirited high school students marched, chanting “not my president” and holding signs urging a Trump eviction. They waved rainbow banners and Mexican flags, as bystanders in the heavily Democratic city high-fived the marchers from the sidelines.

• In Philadelphia, protesters near City Hall held signs bearing slogans like “Not Our President,” “Trans Against Trump” and “Make America Safe For All.”

• In Louisville, about 500 people turned out at a protest while in Baltimore, hundreds of people marched to the stadium where the Ravens were playing a football game.

Meanwhile, dozens of students from Texas State University rallied on their campus against Trump.

Holding signs, some of which read “Make America Free Again” and “Tear Down the Fascist,” the students gathered on the quad of the campus in San Marcos, Texas, about 30 miles south of Austin. Some chanted, “What do we need? Love! When do we want it? Now!” Others argued with Trump supporters who waded into the crowd. The gathering appeared to be generally peaceful.

The afternoon rally came a day after fliers appeared in bathrooms across campus warning of pro-Trump "vigilante squads." The fliers contained a picture of men clad in camouflage holding rifles and said the squads would “arrest and torture those deviant university leaders spouting off all this diversity garbage.” University police were investigating the source of the fliers.

In York, Pa., however, a small group of people rallied for peace and unity on the town square, prompting honks from passersby. Participants held signs saying: "Treat others the way you want to be treated." and "Equality starts with understanding." They chanted: "Stand for unity!" and "Love trumps hate!"

Drayden Raber, a freshman at the York County School of Technology, participated. Officials at his school and police are investigating allegations of racially motivated incidents after a recent video surfaced showing school students carrying a Trump sign and someone can be heard saying 'white power."

John Beck of York and Tony Strouse of Dover Township, who organized the walk to bring a message of peace, said they want people to feel that their freedom hasn't been taken away.

"There's a lot of fear going around right now," Strouse said. "We're in a turbulent time with this whole changing of the office. And there are people who have been fighting for equal rights for a long time, and they're scared to leave their house right now because with this current event came a bunch of hate and bigotry being spewed all over the place."

More unity walks were planned for the weekend.

Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara in London, and Teresa Boeckel, reporting for the York Daily Record.