When a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to obstruct the parade path right in front of the Ronald McDonald float during Thursday’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, they were briefly arrested by New York police.
As part of America’s Thanksgiving holiday tradition, the 98th annual parade is broadcast nationally and features live performances by popular music performers, marching bands, and enormous balloons depicting cartoon characters. Manhattan’s streets are packed with spectators.
The smiling Ronald McDonald flew overhead as a group of perhaps 20 protestors sat in a line in the street under a constant downpour, with others behind them holding up banners that read, “Don’t celebrate genocide” and “Arms embargo now!” Reuters photos showed.
According to a Reuters witness, police initially told the protesters to leave without becoming involved. Then a group of police officers on bicycles showed up, engaged the demonstrators, and escorted them off.
Prior to the procession, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who took office on Monday, told NBC Television that while police were prepared for demonstrators, they were not anticipating them.
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