Arrests Made After Pro-Palestinian Protesters Swarm NY Times HQ and Printing Plant
Approximately 100 pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed the headquarters of The New York Times in Times Square at roughly 10:00 Thursday morning, leading to an unknown number of arrests.
That protest followed one a few hours earlier at a printing facility in Queens that was also operated by the Times.
The protests were apparently aimed at the Times’ coverage of the Israel Hamas War, which those involved claimed favored Israel’s side in the conflict.
New York City’s WABC-TV ran multiple updates on the protests throughout the morning. Initially, it wasn’t clear what the second group of protesters was there for.
Some protesters in Times Square who were not arrested, however, remained outside the newspaper’s headquarters, chanting and handing out fake copies of the Times to passersby who wanted them.
According to the outlet, protesters had earlier that morning created a pile of debris with “office equipment” that blocked access to the printing plant in Queens.
Protesters laid down in a chain around 1 a.m. and connected themselves to one another with what WABC described simply as “tubes.”
Some also held signs that, according to the report, showed slogans such as “Stop the presses. Free Palestine” and “Consent for genocide is manufactured here.”
“The action stopped dozens of trucks from picking up newspapers, creating gridlock on nearby streets,” WABC reported. “The protesters refused to disperse for about two hours before clearing the way at around 3:30 a.m.”
The Times told the station, however, that only “minimal disruption” was expected as a result of the protests.
It was not immediately reported whether the distribution of any of the other newspapers printed at that location — including Newsday, the New York Post, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal — would be affected.
The Times issued a statement saying that the protesters were, in essence, wasting their time.
“The Israel-Hamas war is a complex and challenging story, and we receive criticism from each side,” the newspaper claimed, according to WABC. “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,” the Times added in its statement.
The Israel Hamas War began when Hamas launched a surprise attack against civilian targets on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1,130 Israelis and taking 253 Israelis and foreign nationals, including women, children and seniors, hostage. It was the deadliest day in Israeli history.
In response, Israel declared a state of war and launched a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27 with the stated intention of destroying Hamas, which the U.S. designated as a terrorist organization in 1997.
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