New York, NY — The NYPD detained a dozen protestors, including the leader of the Women’s March, Linda Sarsour, during the ‘Day Without a Woman’ protest on Wednesday afternoon.
The Twitter account for the Women’s March movement, which is the umbrella group for Wednesday’s nationwide protest, showed photos of organizers being arrested and placed into an NYPD van, surrounded by photographers. According to a spokesperson for the Women’s March movement, 10 of their activists who helped organized the event were taken into custody.
“Today, the national leaders of the Women’s March on Washington gathered with allies and those participating in the day’s actions for a show of solidarity and revolutionary love,” the statement reads. “After a peaceful protest in New York City in honor of A Day Without a Woman, 10 organizers were arrested by the New York City Police Department in an act of civil disobedience.”
The arrests took place early Wednesday afternoon as protestors declined police pleas to disperse from their protest site at the Trump International hotel. More than 500 people, mostly women, were in attendance. Many were seen dressed in red to show solidarity, while some were wearing pink knitted hats and were carrying vulgar signs and chanting “F*ck Trump” and “New York Hates Trump.”
The participants began gathering outside Trump Tower at noon. By 1 p.m., the group then began to block traffic by marching towards Columbus Circle to form a “Human Wall” around the Trump International hotel.
Shortly after the arrests, police used a noise cannon to announce that pedestrians are prohibited from blocking the sidewalk or walking in the street.
An NYPD spokesman declined to say how many demonstrators were arrested or their charges until the protest ends.
Sarsour is a controversial figure because of her support for Islamic social rules — include rules that restrict women — and her combative politics towards Israel’s democracy
This story is breaking and will be updated.