Pro-Palestine protesters stormed The New York Times building on Thursday, just hours after a separate demonstration at the newspaper’s printing plant in Queens.
NYPD officials said 124 people were arrested outside the Times’ Midtown headquarters after about 150 protesters took over the lobby as they slammed the publication’s coverage of Israel and the Hamas war in Gaza.
The mostly masked protesters in the institution’s lobby held up a sign that read: ‘Stop the presses! Free Palestine!’
They also held up pictures of some of the leaders of the Times, including managing editor Joseph Kahn, CEO Meredith Levien and publisher AG Sulzberger.
Earlier Thursday, protesters prevented dozens of trucks from entering the Times printing plant and picking up newspapers for delivery by blocking the roads from around 10 p.m. 01.00 until around
Some laid down in a chain, while others held up signs with messages such as ‘Consent to genocide is produced here.’
Pro-Palestinian protesters stormed the New York Times building on Thursday, just hours after a separate demonstration at the newspaper’s printing plant in Queens
About 150 people took over the lobby. They held up pictures of some of the leaders of the Times, such as CEO Meredith Levien and publisher AG Sulzberger
A group calling itself Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) said it was behind both demonstrations.
“We’re trying to take the Times out of circulation for a day,” one protester told HellGateNYC. ‘People think of it as this repository of objective knowledge, but it’s actually at the forefront of manufacturing authorization for this war. We want to challenge that and create a vacuum where other things are possible.’
In addition to the NYT, the plant is also used by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday and the New York Post, as reported by ABC7.
The Times said in a statement: ‘The Israel-Hamas war is a complex and challenging story and we receive criticism from all sides. We are open to disagreement in good faith, but strongly reject any claim that our coverage exhibits bias.
‘We support the rights of groups and individuals to express their views, even when we disagree with them, as it relates to our coverage, but we will not let critics or advocacy campaigns distract us from independent reporting.’
This is not the first time pro-Palestine protesters have attacked the NYT.
Earlier Thursday, protesters blocked dozens of trucks from entering the Times printing plant and picking up newspapers to deliver
NYPD officials said 124 people were arrested outside the Times’ Midtown headquarters
Back in November, they also stormed the lobby, accusing the media of showing a bias against Israel in their coverage of the war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, pro-Palestine protesters arrived in Hollywood to disrupt the Oscars.
As celebrities arrived on the Oscars red carpet at the Dolby Theatre, protesters waved the flag and chanted ‘Free Palestine’.
Video posted on social media shows protesters gathered at Oscars security checkpoints, chanting ‘Shame on you!’ by limousines with celebrities along for the event.
And last week, thousands flooded the streets of New York as part of a raucous International Women’s Day demonstration that saw them storm the Oculus near the World Trade Center.
Footage showed the protesters clutching Palestinian flags, shouting and cheering after they successfully forced their way into the mall on Friday.
Hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters flooded the streets of New York as part of a rowdy demonstration on International Women’s Day last week
Once inside, the Oculus protesters formed a drum circle and chanted ‘Gaza’ and ‘Shut it down’
Once inside, they formed a drum circle and waved banners that read: ‘30,878 dead and Joe eats ice cream’, referring to the president casually slurping an ice cream cone while being grilled about the conflict.
The chaotic scene was one of many witnessed as part of the march organized by the Palestinian group Within in Our Lifetime to coincide with International Women’s Day in recognition that the death toll from Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has predominantly been women and children.
More than 25,000 women and children have been killed, according to estimates by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The ‘Global Strike for Gaza’ began in Union Square before storming downtown, with later video showing protesters storming the Oculus mall.