Protesters March in Downtown Los Angeles as Trump Presidency Begins

Demonstrators converged in Los Angeles on Friday on a Inauguration Day that saw more protests in the nation's capital and other cities. 

Activists taking part in two major protests -- one starting in Boyle Heights and another near Staples Center -- marched through the city to meet up outside City Hall in Los Angeles. Downpours soaked the crowded, many carrying protest signs and umbrellas.

The Boyle Heights protest was set to begin at Mariachi Plaza before moving to the Federal Building and then City Hall. The protest beginning near Staples Center is organized by more than 90 groups and set to begin at Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street.

Ron Gochez of Union del Barrio hopes hundreds of thousands of protesters will be in attendance in the action starting near Staple Center. With rain in the forecast, he's predicting at least 10,000 will turn up to the demonstrations.

Activists at the protest will denounce a number of expected Trump policies, but especially Trump's proposed efforts to begin mass deportations of immigrants living in the country illegally.

"The message ... is complete unity between the organizations in opposition to Trump's racist and, we believe, hateful policies," Gochez said. "From day one, he's going to see millions of people protesting across the country, so he has to know it's not going be easy to implement what he wants to do. This is not the time to sit back and observe. It's time to organize. Marching and protesting is great, but those things alone don't bring about change."

In preparation for the crowd, Los Angeles police officers were seen placing barricades outside the west and south entrances to City Hall on Thursday afternoon. Department officials said they planned to have a beefed-up presence downtown and elsewhere on Friday while being on maximum deployment.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said its Emergency Operations Bureau has established an incident command for managing and monitoring inauguration day events and protests.

The department said in a statement that it does "not have any specific or credible information indicating that any areas of Los Angeles County will be substantially affected or disrupted."

Here's a look at other demonstrations planned around the city:

— The "Caravan of Justice'' in South Los Angeles includes several dozen groups, such as Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, Los Angeles Community Action Network and United Teachers Los Angeles. It is set to begin at Leimert Park at 9 a.m. before protesters get on busses to travel to other sites around the city before returning to Leimert Park at 2 p.m.

— At about 10 a.m. Pacific time, shortly after Trump is sworn in, a group called the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition will hold a march and rally with music, speakers and immigrant representatives. That will be followed by another rally soon after at Mariachi Plaza in nearby Boyle Heights where protesters will object to what organizers call Trump's "targeting the large Mexican and Latino community for deportations."

— The Los Angeles Unified School District has declared Friday "Unity Day 2017" at its campuses "to encourage students to participate in the civic-engagement process and to promote schools as safe and appropriate venues for meaningful dialogue about the presidential election," according to the district.

City News Service contributed to this report.