![Pro-Palestine protesters clash with NYPD officers during the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center. [Screenshot/YouTube/New York Post]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1-7-e1701320125162.jpg "Pro-Palestine protesters clash with NYPD officers during the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center. [Screenshot/YouTube/New York Post]")
Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian protesters apparently disrupted the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting and clashed with NYPD officers Wednesday night.
Videos on Twitter showed police officers struggling to contain the protestors, who flooded the streets near Rockefeller Center and tried to break through barricades while waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans.
🚨#BREAKING: Chaos erupts As Pro-Palestinian Protesters try to Disrupt the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting breaking through barricades and fighting with police ⁰⁰📌#Manhattan | #NewYork ⁰⁰Currently Chaos is unfolding in midtown Manhattan, in New York City, as reports of… pic.twitter.com/MdfiLxHdxr
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) November 30, 2023
Officers apparently used pepper spray and pushed against protestors, tackling those who jumped past barricades and appeared to attempt to assault the police. Multiple protesters could be seen being taken into custody.
One protestor was also caught on video carrying a burning NYPD hat while marching with a chanting group.
Pro-Palestinian Protester carries a BURNING NYPD cop hat, as the group marches through Manhattan for “Flood Tree Lighting for Gaza” Protest.
Desk@freedomnews.tv to license https://t.co/NloLj00APx
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) November 30, 2023
The violent crowds allegedly called the officers “fucking Nazis” and shouted slogans like “river to the sea,” “free free Palestine” and “end to genocide,” while one protestor carried a large sign with a swastika, per the New York Post.
Additional police units had to be called in, even though the NYPD was aware of the planned rally and prepared a high-security presence ahead of the tree lighting ceremony, the NY Post reported.
“They should have shut it down. They lost control of the street. I was shoved, punched, kicked. It’s bullshit,” one officer told the outlet. (RELATED: Video Shows Chaos As Police Officers Try To Pull Away Pro-Palestine Protesters Barricading DNC Headquarters)
A tourist from the United Kingdom had planned his vacation around the Christmas tree lighting, but ended up being “walled in by a bunch of terrorist-loving a–holes calling for intifada,” the tourist told the NY Post.
“Their strategy for sympathy is disruption,” he added, per the outlet. “But all they’ll get out of me is a big fuck you.”
Law enforcement was able to get the rally under control in about an hour and the ceremony continued without incident, according to the NY Post. Kelly Clarkson, KeKe Palmer, Barry Manilow, David Foster and Katharine McPhee were among those who were a part of the event.