Election 2020: LA residents take to the streets, social media after Biden-Harris ticket is projected winner
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Saturday were projected to win the presidency and vice presidency of the United States, supporters took to Southern California streets and to social media in a collective reaction that was overwhelmingly marked by celebration.
"It's time for America to unite and heal - and @JoeBiden will bring us together and move us forward," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Twitter. He added: "You've made history, @KamalaHarris. Today is a bright day for America and for our future - especially for the millions of women and girls across this country who see themselves in you."
Harris made history as the first Black and Asian woman to become vice president, an achievement that comes as the U.S. faces a reckoning on racial justice. The California senator, who is also the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency, will become the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government, four years after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.
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At MacArthur Park, a planned protest against President Donald Trump turned into a celebration after news broke of Biden's apparent victory. A group of several hundred demonstrators, who had originally intended to demand a peaceful transfer of presidential power, marched through the streets applauding the Democratic ticket's success.
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in downtown L.A., marching from Pershing Square to City Hall after another scheduled protest also transformed into a celebration. Videos on social media showed people in buildings cheering and playing music from windows several stories up. One person even played a trumpet in celebration.
Biden supporters flooded Sunset Boulevard from Echo Park to Silver Lake for an impromptu dance party.
Well into the night, revelers lined the streets of West Hollywood, dancing to music as cars bearing American flags drove through the area beeping their horns.
AIR7 HD was over West Hollywood Saturday night as police shut down Santa Monica Boulevard amid a peaceful celebration in the middle of the street.
Cheers and tears flooded The Abbey as Biden and Harris delivered their acceptance speeches from Wilmington, Delaware.
"I think it's important to show that if you really believe in America that you can make your voice heard," said Marissa Lee. "My first presidential election, Trump won. And now my second one, Kamala - an opposite - and Joe. And it just represents that it's not too late for America to change. To make it better for me, at 24 years old, and make it better for the kids coming behind us to know that they can be the vice president, they can be the president. Anything is possible.
RELATED: Watch Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' full acceptance speech from Delaware Saturday night
Lakers superstar Lebron James tweeted an animated image of himself smoking a victory cigar and a link to his get-out-the-vote organization. James also tweeted that he will go to the White House for a visit to celebrate the Los Angeles Lakers' championship.
In a statement, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Biden's victory was one that "we needed to see to be the America we know we can be. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were the choice of a record number of American voters -- and an overwhelming majority of Californians -- because we know they will represent all Americans. They will treat every person with dignity and deserving of equal opportunity."
For his part, President Trump was not giving up.
Departing from longstanding democratic tradition and signaling a potentially turbulent transfer of power, he issued a combative statement while he was on his Virginia golf course. It said his campaign would take unspecified legal actions and he would "not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands."
