Tensions over the war between Israel and Palestine made its way into Thanksgiving on Thursday. A group of pro-Palestine protesters crashed the annual Macy's parade in New York City, disturbing those parade-goers by shouting "colonialism" and "consumerism." Police ended up arresting these people after they refused to leave the scene.
According to local media, the incident occurred around 10:00 a.m. on Thursday at Sixth Avenue and West 45th Street. A group of around 30 people jumped over the barricades and ran into the streets to join the parade, dressed in white and sprayed with fake blood. They glued themselves to the ground pretending to be dead while other protesters pour fake blood on them.
#BREAKING: Protesters SHUT DOWN Macy's Parade route by GLUING THEMSELVES to the ground, demanding "Liberation for Palestine and Climate" blocking Sinclair Oil Corporation Dinosaur balloon.#Thanksgiving#MacysParade
Video by Ken Lopez [email protected] to license pic.twitter.com/ib2HM5QnYc
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) November 23, 2023
After a few seconds of general confusion, parade-goers realized what was happening and began to boo the protesters, who were subsequently arrested by the police at the scene, since they refused to leave on their own. According to what was reported by WABC, there were also disturbances at two locations on West 49th and West 59th streets.
The scene was reminiscent of a similar event that occurred in 2014 when police arrested seven people who were protesting the court's decision to charge a police officer for shooting and killing Michael Brown, a teenager in Missouri.
