Pro-Palestine protesters arrested near Met Gala

Hundreds of people gathered in Manhattan on Monday afternoon to march uptown to the Met Gala in protest of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Police made several arrests as the rally splintered into smaller groups. The protesters marched through Central Park and through heavily police-barricaded streets next to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, walking close to the main event but not directly disrupting the gala.

Protesters gathered at Hunter College to form a pro-Palestinian group. had characterized as a “Citywide Day of Rage for Gaza,” masked, with drums and picket signs, including one that read “No Met Gala while bombs fall in Gaza.”

As the largest group of protesters walked up Fifth Avenue and approached the museum’s red carpet, they bypassed and broke through police barricades. Later, protesters set off pink and green smoke bombs and at least one flare on Park Avenue; Cheers from the Upper East Siders filming on the sidelines.

Both the New York News and that New York Post reported that a group of protesters burned an American flag at a World War I memorial in Central Park. Several demonstrators spray painted Tags such as “Gaza” and “Free Palestine” on the base of the bronze statue.

Uptown, The Daily Beast watched as protesters were arrested by New York police at the intersection of Madison Avenue and 85th Street, while onlookers shouted at police to “let them go!” A few blocks to the south, a group of men shouted wearing baseball caps, shouted obscenities at three pro-Palestinian protesters who were walking around and said among themselves, “Fuck you! Go fuck yourself!”

A New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Beast that several people had been arrested. They said they had no further details to share about the arrests. Local station Fox 5 NY, citing unnamed authorities, reported that 25 people had been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

It was unclear how close the protesters wanted to get to the Met and the many celebrities there. The NYPD maintained a heavy police presence on the streets surrounding the museum throughout the evening: At 8 p.m., The Daily Beast observed officers loaded with zip ties fanning out on 85th and Madison Streets, even though there were no protesters anywhere nearby. At least one helicopter could be seen above Park Avenue and another group of protesters.

Within our lives said that she had finished her march at around 9 p.m. local time, about four hours after the call to gather. The group encouraged its supporters to continue taking “autonomous action” outside the Met. “Disrupt normal business operations as Rafah continues to be subjected to carpet bombing and our people continue to resist the genocide by all means!” You tweeted.

By 10 p.m. local time, most of the demonstrators had left the scene. Police officers stopped inspect the vandalism of the bronze monument and the unsuccessful attempt to remove a Palestinian flag draped on it. An independent journalist reported that officers were forced to call an emergency dispatch unit to take down the flag.

The 2021 Met Gala was also threatened with disruption by protesters, even though the action was related to the Black Lives Matter movement. At the time it was said that nine demonstrators had been arrested and released. Last year, several climate protesters shouted “Tax the rich“ gathered outside the gala and briefly blocked a van carrying Paris Hilton.

The Israeli assault on Gaza continued on Monday after Hamas said it would accept the terms of a possible ceasefire deal put forward by mediators from Egypt and Qatar. Israeli authorities said the proposal was “far from meeting” its “core demands” but that officials would continue to participate in negotiations.

Earlier Monday, the Israel Defense Forces ordered more than 100,000 people to evacuate the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have fled since Israel’s invasion in response to the Oct. 7 attacks. Soon after, Israeli tanks entered Rafah, the Associated Press reported.

The official death toll in Gaza exceeded 30,000 at the end of February, but the figure is believed to be an underestimate.