Anti-Israel protesters clashed with police at a rally outside Columbia University on Friday leading to nine arrests within a couple of hours. The protesters allegedly were making anti-police chants and comparing them to white supremacist, far-right terrorist group the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
“NYPD, KKK. IDF they’re all the same,” the protesters screamed as they clashed with the police. They also charged at a few pro-Israel protesters and ripped a pro-Israeli poster from the hands of a woman and convened around her.
The demonstrators were part of the “All Out for Palestine” demonstration with protesters marching with Palestinian flags which later transformed into a scuffle with New York Police Department (NYPD) officers in the street.
As cops tried to detain a woman, a swarm of screaming protesters attempted to intervene and rip her off the custody of the cops.
The protesters took out the march in response to allegations that anti-Israel student demonstrators were sprayed with an unknown, foul-smelling chemical last month during a protest staged on the campus of Columbia University.
The two alleged assailants were banned from campus after the incident. The police also launched a probe into what interim provost Dennis A. Mitchell says “appears to have been serious crimes, possibly hate crimes”.
After the main protest on Friday died down, a smaller group marched south to West 107th Street and Broadway. More protesters were arrested there. The main protest was attended by hundreds of protesters.
“You are violent thugs. You are criminals! You are the most violent. You are the most f–king violent. It is right to rebel. NYPD, burn in hell! It is right to rebel. NYPD, burn in hell!” the protesters chanted.
The US and several other countries in the world have seen protests in solidarity with both Israelis and Palestinians as the war rages on in Gaza. The protests have also led to law and order issues in several cities of the US. Large-scale protests also disrupted normal life in the UK and several other western countries.
