The NYPD arrested 21 pro-Palestinian protesters who briefly blocked the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade route Thursday morning, occurring shortly before 9:30 a.m. EST. The annual parade started at 8:30 a.m. in the upper west side of Manhattan and followed a 2.5-mile route to the Macy’s Herald Square store location on 34th Street.

Nearly two dozen protesters, many of whom had their faces covered, leapt over barriers and blocked the parade route on West 55th Street and sat down, locked arms and chanted, “Free Palestine.” They held two Palestinian flags and carried a banner saying, “Don’t celebrate genocide,” calling for an arms embargo and giving land to Palestinians.

While spectators booed the protesters, the NYPD quickly responded and arrested them; the parade continued after police cleared the protesters, whom are being held on yet-to-be-announced charges.

The NYPD last year arrested 34 pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked the path of the Ronald McDonald’s float and glued their hands to the street, protesting the war in Gaza that started when Hamas attacked and killed Israelis citizens on Oct. 7, 2023. Thirty of those protesters were charged with trespassing while four others were charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration.

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