A large group of anti-Israel protesters stormed [1] the Brooklyn Museum on Friday evening, setting up an encampment during a significant demonstration. According to police sources, the intruders scaled the building and descended inside using climbing gear.
Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters gathered both inside and outside the Brooklyn Museum, marking another event in a series of city-wide protests that have disrupted major events, including the Thanksgiving Day Parade, over the past several months. Social media posts allegedly show the crowd heckling officers earlier today:
Anti-police protestors NYC pic.twitter.com/ZT5MxJpNmW [2]
— Clown World ™ ? (@ClownWorld_) May 31, 2024 [3]
In response to these ongoing demonstrations, the NYPD plans to enhance security measures at the upcoming Israel Day Parade in NYC due to the potential risk of disruptions. Meanwhile, Congressional leaders have extended an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver a speech on Capitol Hill.
Protesters on the museum roof appeared to drape a massive banner reading “Free Palestine Divest From Genocide” over the building’s front. Some protesters were also seen throwing items from the roof, police sources reported. Numerous posters on Twitter purportedly caught the protests on video:
Wow!
Pro-Hamas extremists took over the Brooklyn Museum and hung an antisemitic banner on it. pic.twitter.com/8aqvoudb0A [4]
— I Meme Therefore I Am ?? (@ImMeme0) May 31, 2024 [5]
TERROR: Protesters, as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians holding Americans and Israelis hostage in Gaza, have seized the Brooklyn Museum. They will not be prosecuted. pic.twitter.com/UYLMhOXfq3 [6]
— @amuse (@amuse) May 31, 2024 [7]
Approximately 800 people gathered outside the museum, which is located next to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Video evidence shows the protesters jumping over metal fence barriers and entering the museum while chanting “Free free Palestine” and waving Palestinian flags.
The demonstration appears to have been organized by the anti-Israel group “Within Our Lifetime,” which called on supporters to “flood the Brooklyn Museum for Gaza” on Friday. An online flier for the protest stated, “Activists are de-occupying the museum until they disclose and divest from the US-Israeli genocide.”
Several protesters were arrested, though the exact number remains unknown, according to police sources. This incident followed a city-wide walkout and demonstration by hundreds of New York public school students at the Department of Education headquarters in Lower Manhattan.