LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- Lee County leaders spoke out, Saturday, after protests erupted in Fort Myers.
Protesters were seen Downtown Fort Myers, expressing their discontent with President elect, Donald Trump. Newly elected Southwest Florida congressman Francis Rooney weighed in, calling for the protests to end. "I'm not really happy about people trying to take their marbles and go home, instead of reflecting the will of the people. The people spoke," he said.
Meanwhile, chairman for the Democratic Party of Lee County, Yoseph Tedros, called the protests a display of grief. According to him, Hillary Clinton's loss is not what people are upset about. However, he does believe people are upset because Trump won the presidency, despite making comments some find offensive to women, Muslims and other groups of people. "I think it's a slap in the face for them. Let me get this straight, this guy can say this, and how are you rewarding him? You're giving him the presidency? So I think this is a reaction," he said. "As long as it's peaceful, as long as you're not hurting anybody or any property, there's nothing wrong with it."
Tedros hopes Trump will leave the offensive comments behind and act more presidential, as everyone continues to move forward. "He needs to be more considerate and more purposeful with how he comes up with answers," said Tedros. "As President Elect, we're giving him the space necessary to come up with what he want's to do first, [for example] his cabinet."
Although Clinton will not be the next president, Tedros tells Fox 4 the election has democrats thinking and doing more to promote their values. "One lady said, 'this is what I'm going to do: I'm going to start getting involved in local charities and local elections,' I have another lady that said 'you know what? I'm going to run for local office."
Saturday marks the fourth day of anti-Trump protests all over the nation. Most have been peaceful, with the exception of Portland, Oregon, where one person was shot. That person is expected to live.
