Over 60 anti-Israel protesters arrested for blocking NYC streets during Biden’s fundraising visit
More than 60 people were busted at rowdy anti-Israel protests during President Biden’s three-stop fundraising tour of the Big Apple Wednesday, cops said.
The NYPD confirmed Thursday morning that 61 people were booked for their part in the disruptive demonstration on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan – and the whole crew was slapped with summonses for violations then released.
The department said Wednesday night that most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct.
Multiple demonstrators blocked the street in front of a private residence where the president was scheduled to speak in what they said was a protest of his support for Israel’s “invasion” of Gaza. Israel has been targetting Hamas terrorists since the group’s Oct. 7 attack, which left about 1,200 people dead and saw another 250 kidnapped.
Some of the protesters arrested included members of the organization Jewish Voice for Peace, the group said in an Instagram post. Video of the unruly crowd shows attendees shouting, “Free, Free Palestine!” as multiple NYPD officers could be seen on the street.
“Hundreds of Jews are getting arrested for blockading the Presidential motorcade route as it attempts to travel from one private fundraiser to another on the Upper East Side,” the group said in the post.
Protesters wore shirts that said “Jews say ceasefire now!” and were cleared out in time for Biden to arrive at the home of his third wealthy host, Maureen White, whose husband Steven Rattner manages billionaire former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s fortune.
One of the protesters told The Post Wednesday that she called out of her job so she wouldn’t miss the demonstration.
“We will not let this warmonger drive around our streets and our city like he is not causing death and destruction in our name,” said the 29-year-old woman, who wore a sweater that read “CEASEFIRE.”
“While he is in our city, he will feel nothing but disruptions.”
Asked if she had thought about the possibility of being arrested for disruptions, she said, “We’ll get out.”
“I try to be cautious of an arrest because I still have to work but if letting my voice be heard has the slightest chance in stopping a war, then I have to try,” she said.
Biden made the fundraising blitz as he seeks to maintain his large cash advantage over presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“There is one existential threat: it’s Donald Trump,” the 81-year-old president said at his first stop of the day — an environment-focused afternoon gathering at the Upper West Side home of Larry Linden, the former managing partner of Goldman Sachs.
“He’ll try to undo everything we’ve done… We can’t let that happen.”
