Pro-Palestinian protesters in New York City draped a Palestinian flag around a memorial while burning an American flag.
In a video posted to X, a protester was seen standing on the 107th Infantry War Soldier Memorial located at the intersection of East 67th Street and Fifth Avenue, waving and draping a Palestinian flag over the memorial.
Protesters in the video can be heard chanting, “Free, free, Palestine,” as an American flag was seen burning on the ground.
The words, “Gaza” and “Free Palestine,” were also written at the base of the statue.
This incident came as law enforcement officials with the New York Police Department had increased security around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in preparation for Monday’s Met Gala.
Pro-Palestinian protesters were seen marching around outside of the Met Gala and some even removed the police barricades.
The New York Post reported:
Earlier in the evening, about two dozen protesters were arrested near Madison Ave and East 83rd Street as a massive swarm of demonstrators marched from Hunter College toward the Met, according to police sources.
The crowd trekked north on Fifth Avenue – blocking traffic along the way – before cops stopped them at the East 79th Street Transverse in Central Park.