Pro-Palestinian protesters temporarily halted the annual Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade in New York City by glueing their hands to the ground in the middle of 6th Avenue.
Around 30 protesters were demonstrating against the ongoing conflict in Gaza when a few made their way into the middle of the parade just before 11am, reports said.
They jumped the barricades and ran into the street where the parade procession was happening and allegedly glued themselves to the ground.
The demonstrators were wearing white jumpsuits, with words such as “colonialism”, “imperialism” and “consumerism” written on them, then proceeded to pour fake blood over each other.
As they walked down 6th Avenue in front of large float displays, they chanted pro-Palestinian messages, such as “There’s an ongoing genocide and our planet is dying” and “We need a ceasefire”.
Pro-Palestine protestors at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade— (Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters)
A swarm of NYPD police came to arrest the protesters, while the parade continued around them.
Floats, balloons and bands were all diverted around the police who were circling the demonstrators who were glued onto the ground.
One reportedly told police: “I’m glued down. I can’t get up.”
Some in the onlooking crowd reportedly booed as the activists were arrested.
Protesters being arrested— (AP)
Other protesters who jumped into the parade procession were seen wearing t-shirts that stated “Stop the Genocide” and carrying a banner that read “Genocide then. Genocide now”, although it was unclear if they were part of the same group as the ones in white jumpsuits.
The demonstrators reportedly came from a larger protest of 400 people that gathered in Madison Square Park, The New York Post said.
A Palestinian flag was also lifted and displayed by a person aboard the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s float in the parade as it passed the Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street, Fox News reports.
Security measures increased for this year’s Thanksgiving Parade, as well as in airports and shopping malls across the United States, Reuters said.
The boost in security comes at a time when Islamophobia and antisemitism have seen a huge surge, especially since the start of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Activists poured fake blood on each other— (AP)
On Wednesday, New York Mayor Eric Adams declared he would not tolerate violent demonstrations, saying: “You’re not going to destroy property, you’re not going to injure people.”
President Joe Biden also commented in an interview with NBC on the need for “decency”.
“Today is about coming together,” Mr Biden said. “We can have different political views but ... we should focus on dealing with our problems. ... And stop the rancor,” he said.
