New York police reportedly made at least two dozen arrests Monday while clashing with more than 1,000 anti-Israel protesters carrying Palestinian flags near the star-studded Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
While marching toward the museum, protesters vandalized the One Hundred Seventh Infantry World War I Memorial, where an American flag also was lit on fire, the New York Post reported. Protesters scrawled "Gaza" in large black letters on the memorial and covered it in stickers that read "Stop the genocide. End the apartheid. Free Palestine."
Some protesters climbed atop the bronze soldiers and waved Palestinian flags or draped them over the soldiers, the Post reported.
A video from FreedomNews TV posted on the X account of a self-described Ukrainian journalist showed police dragging a protester onto the street while officers in riot gear escorted another who appeared to be handcuffed. Another person wearing a mask was dragged to the ground and handcuffed as police warned protesters to stay on the sidewalk.
The nearly three-minute video also showed two other protesters on the ground handcuffed and a police officer in riot gear pushing back others with a baton. In another instance, a water bottle was thrown in the direction of officers.
Demonstrations reportedly were expected for the gala, an annual gathering of celebrities and fashionistas with enough glitz and glamor to light up the Las Vegas Strip, but coming at a time of worsening inflation that is pounding the pocketbooks of most Americans.
The protesters set out from Hunter College, where the Palestinian activist group Within Our Lifetime called for a "Day of Rage" protest to form and then march toward the museum, the Post reported.
"Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest," the group of about 1,000 protesters chanted as they waved Palestinian flags and wore keffiyeh face coverings, but they could not reach the museum, the Post reported.
Police managed to divert the crowd into Central Park before blocking the exits. The protesters then filed out of the park and were within sight of the museum, but dozens of police formed a blockade preventing them from heading north.
The group tried to reach the museum again by turning down East 81st Street but was again stopped by more police barricades at the intersection with Madison Avenue, the Post reported. Soon after, police met the protesters head-on three blocks uptown and began making at least two dozen arrests.
The influx of people in the area and the large police presence had protesters and commuters jockeying for sidewalk space, The New York Times reported. Some passers-by along Fifth Avenue were heard referring to the protests as "antisemitic" and "anti-American."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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