25 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested after disrupting Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

NEW YORK CITY (TNND) — Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Thursday after temporarily blocking the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, a spokesperson for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) confirmed.

A total of 25 protesters were arrested around 9:25 a.m. at West 55th Street and Sixth Avenue. According to the NYPD spokesperson, the “unscheduled demonstration” was blocking the parade route at the time.

The spokesman said each of the protesters was taken into custody without incident and later received citations for trespassing.

Videos of the incident posted online show protesters chanting “Free, free Palestine” while displaying Palestinian flags and a banner reading “Don’t celebrate genocide.” The footage shows the parade’s Ronald McDonald balloon being stopped behind the demonstrators.

In the footage, parade spectators can be heard booing the protesters before cheering as police officers arrived.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators have taken to the streets of New York City throughout the year to protest the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. In October, more than 200 protesters were arrested at a pro-Palestine demonstration outside the New York Stock Exchange.

The NYPD said at the time that the 206 people were taken into custody as members of Jewish Voice for Peace. The organization wrote on social media that it had “closed down” the exchange to demand that the US stop supporting Israel and “profiting from genocide.”

Just days earlier, anti-Israel protesters also flooded various New York City neighborhoods to mark the first anniversary of the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The demonstrations were largely planned by the pro-Palestinian advocacy group Within Our Lifetime, which urged New Yorkers on social media at the time to “stand with Gaza and strengthen the Palestinian people who are resisting genocide at all costs.” “.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote on X-Thursday that New Yorkers “must not forget the families who miss their loved ones taken hostage by Hamas 418 days ago.”

“Let us pray that they will be safely reunited with their families by this time next year,” said Governor Hochul.