Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Manhattan on Monday afternoon to march to the Met Gala in protest of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. Police made numerous arrests as the march dispersed into smaller groups, with protesters moving through Central Park and down heavily police-barricaded streets near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, edging close to the main event but failing to disrupt the Gala directly.
Protesters gathered at Hunter College for what Within Our Lifetime, a pro-Palestinian group, described as a “Citywide Day of Rage for Gaza,” dressed in masks, carrying drums, and holding picket placards, including one that read “No Met Gala While Bombs Drop in Gaza.”
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As the largest number of demonstrators made their way up Fifth Avenue, nearing the museum’s red carpet, they evaded and broke through police barriers. Later, demonstrators on Park Avenue detonated pink and green smoke bombs, as well as at least one flare, sparking shouts from Upper East Side residents filming on the sidelines.
According to the New York Daily News and the New York Post, a group of demonstrators burned an American flag at Central Park’s World War I memorial. Several demonstrators spray-painted “Gaza” and “Free Palestine” on the base of the bronze statue.
Uptown, The Daily Beast observed the NYPD arresting demonstrators near the intersection of Madison Avenue and 85th Street, amid cries from bystanders to “let them go!” A few blocks south, a group of males in baseball caps hurled obscenities at three pro-Palestine activists who were strolling and talking to each other: “Fuck you!” Go fuck yourselves.”
A spokeswoman for the New York Police Department told The Daily Beast that several people had been apprehended. They stated that they had no further information about the arrests. Fox 5 NY reports that they have arrested 25 people and charged them with disorderly conduct.
It was unclear how near the demonstrators intended to go to the Met and the numerous celebrities there. The NYPD had a large police presence on the streets surrounding the museum throughout the evening. At 8 p.m., The Daily Beast noticed officers armed with zip ties fanning out on 85th and Madison, despite the fact that there were no demonstrators nearby. Another gathering of demonstrators and at least one chopper hovered over Park Avenue.
According to Within Our Lifetime, it ended its march around 9 p.m., four hours after the call to action. The group urged followers to continue their “autonomous action” outside the Met. They wrote on Twitter, “Disrupt business as usual as Rafah continues to face carpet bombing and our people continue to resist genocide by any means necessary!”
By 10 p.m., most demonstrators had left the location. Police officers waited, inspecting the vandalism at the bronze memorial, and unsuccessfully attempted to remove a Palestinian flag draped over it. An independent journalist reported that the officers had to summon an Emergency Service Unit for the flag’s removal.
Protesters pledged to disrupt the 2021 Met Gala, aligning their actions with the Black Lives Matter movement. Previous accounts report the arrest and subsequent release of nine demonstrators. Last year, several climate protestors yelling “tax the rich” gathered outside the event and briefly halted a vehicle transporting Paris Hilton.
The Israeli assault on Gaza resumed on Monday after Hamas stated that it would accept the terms of a prospective cease-fire proposed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Israeli authorities stated that the proposal was “far from meeting” its “core demands,” but that officials would continue to negotiate.
Earlier on Monday, Israel’s Defense Forces ordered more than 100,000 people to flee the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, where more than 1 million Palestinians have fled since Israel invaded in response to the October 7 attacks. According to the Associated Press, Israeli tanks reached Rafah shortly thereafter.
The official death toll in Gaza topped 30,000 in late February, though this figure is believed to be an underestimate.
