New York City Police Department officers reported arresting approximately 200 people on April 21 in Brooklyn, N.Y., at Grand Army Plaza, one block from the home of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Protesters wore black T-shirts declaring “Jews Say Cease Fire Now” as law enforcement led them away in zip ties two at a time. Chants at the demonstration included “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest. Disclose, divest” and “Let Gaza live.”
It wasn’t the first time that pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas marchers directed their ire at Schumer; they first chose the location right after the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The activists started their march holding a banner representing a Passover seder plate. Morgan Bassichis, a member of the far-left, anti-Israel activist group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), said to participants that “this will not be a seder as usual. These are not usual times.”
The agitators escalated as some in the crowd shifted their attention to the streets, choosing to block traffic, which provoked long blasts from car horns. Those who ignored NYPD officers’ warnings of potential arrest for refusing to move soon found themselves in zip ties.
JVP confirmed that it had intentionally chosen the action to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Passover.
