Over 100 pro-Palestine protesters were arrested at The New York Times headquarters in Midtown Manhattan hours after the protesters surrounded the paper’s printing facilities in Queens on Thursday, ABC7 reported.
The group of 150 protesters stormed The New York Times headquarters around 10 a.m., 124 of whom were taken into custody, police stated.
“New York Times you can’t hide we charge you with genocide!” the protesters chanted in the building. According to footage published to the Instagram of the organizers of the protest, Palestinian Youth Movement, several passersby confronted the protesters. One man attempted to grab a sign protesters were holding that read “Lies” in The New York Times font.
Protesters called for the public to “boycott, divest and unsubscribe,” while also carrying a sign reading, “The New York war crimes,” with “Times” visibly slashed in red paint.
The Palestinian Youth Movement published a link to their social media, apparently a mock New York Times website, called “The New York War Crimes,” with “Times” crossed out in red. The top of the site, “Stop the presses! Free Palestine!” is written. The next article is titled “How to Make a Genocide Disappear,” with the description saying “The Times’ coverage of Israel’s most recent war on Gaza may be its darkest hour. Here, we break it down in detail.” The site alleges that The New York Times has a history of supporting American wars, right-wing dictatorships, and US backed regime-change. At the protest, demonstrators handed out print versions of this publication, according to The New York Post.
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The protest was held on the commencement of The New York Times’s annual State of the Times event.
Protesters blocked the driveway of printing facility
The previous night, at around 1 a.m., pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the drive way of The New York Times printing facility in Queens, which also prints several other publications, according to ABC7.
The protesters laid down on the driveway in a chain, connected to each other with tubes. They held signs that read, "Stop the presses. Free Palestine," and "Consent for genocide is manufactured here."
They also created a pile of rubble with office equipment to further block access.
The demonstration stopped dozens of trucks from picking up newspapers, and created gridlock on nearby streets. The protesters did not clear the way until 3:30 a.m. During this overnight protest, no arrests were made.
The New York Times said in a statement that readers should expect "minimal disruption" from the protest,” and “The Israel-Hamas war is a complex and challenging story, and we receive criticism from each side. We are open to good-faith disagreement but firmly reject any assertion that our coverage displays bias. We support the rights for groups and individuals to express their point of view, even when we disagree with it as it relates to our coverage, but will not let critics or advocacy campaigns sway us from independent reporting.”
New York City has been a hotbed of pro-Palestine activity protests since Israel’s war with Hamas began on October 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded the country, fired thousands of rockets, murdered over 1,200 people, and took over 200 hostage in one day.