(FeaturedNews.com) – On Thursday evening in Manhattan, demonstrators in support of Palestine and law enforcement clashed after the protesters reportedly targeted the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Following the incident, the police made seven arrests.
The footage that emerged on social media from the incident showed the demonstrators, some of whom were masked fighting with the officers as they attempted to make their way through the lines. Police then used pepper spray, while one officer was burned by a protester who had stolen his hat.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department confirmed that a total of seven people had been arrested and that one person was being charged with a felony charge, while the rest were facing misdemeanors. The spokesperson further noted that at this time they could not confirm the online reports about many officers having been injured during the occurrence.
The protest in New York had taken place only days after the Christmas tree lighting in the town of Ypsilanti, Michigan on Sunday. During that incident, protesters had been chanting “Free Palestine” during the tree lighting and interrupting the children’s choir that was performing at the time.
The demonstration on Wednesday was promoted by “Within Our Lifetime” a pro-Palestine group that has pushed its supporters to disrupt the tree lighting ceremonies and “flood the tree lighting FOR GAZA.”
The police managed to keep protesters away from the Rockefeller Center where the ceremony had first started at 7 p.m. Instead protesters had congregated outside the News Corporation building which also has a Christmas tree.
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