Groups of protestors continued to rally in Puerto Rico calling for Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to resign after the leak of profanity-laced online chats show him making misogynistic slurs and mocking his constituents.
In Viejo San Juan late Thursday night, the scene was much different than Wednesday's violent protests that ended in arrests. Much of the streets had been cleaned up and vandalism had been painted over, but the energy was still high.
Thursday's protest was centered in front of the governor’s mansion just across from a blockade of police. Protestors chanted, beat drums and waved signs and the Puerto Rican flag while some demonstrators sat on the ground in silence, wearing duct tape with the word "renuncia" -- resignation -- written on it over their mouths.
"This is not a party, we are fighting for our rights," Lionel Rodriguez, who had been protesting since Saturday in between work, told NBC 6. "This is going to affect us for the next four years, eight years, so when tension happens, people see that we are angry, that is why you’re here today, NBC. If it was all cheers maybe you wouldn’t be here and that is unfortunate to say."
Among the crowd was Luis Daniel, who brought his 8-year-old daughter, Aurora. She held a sign that said in Spanish: "When I grow up, I don't want to be like the governor."
"It's never too young to fight for the right causes -- that's why she's here with me," Daniel said.
Rosselló issued a statement saying he respects Wednesday's demonstration as a "democratic exercise" and "a natural manifestation of bitterness over recent events," but refused to resign.
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President Donald Trump weighed in on the upheaval, saying Rosselló was "under siege."
More protests are planned through the weekend including one on Monday that is expected to shut down a major highway.
