Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Disrupted By Pro-Palestine Protest, Multiple Arrests Made

The annual Macy's Thanksgiving parade was interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protest, which saw several people glue themselves to the road, blocking the route and chanting "Free Palestine."

The protesters all had on white clothing that was splattered with red paint as they yelled at the top of their long for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The famous parade had to be paused due to the presence of pro-Palestinian activists who decided to use the moment to make a statement on the ongoing war in the Middle East.

At least 30-something protesters charged into the streets in the middle of the show and glued themselves to the floor in an attempt to stop the parade from proceeding along its usual route in New York City.

They were demonstrating along Sixth Avenue when a good number of them scaled the barricades and went into the area along 49th Street to disrupt the annual parade ceremony.

Donning white jumpsuits spattered with red paint, the protesters held up various signs and had words of protest written across their clothes.

They chanted the term "Free Palestine! From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," which some consider to be anti-Semitic. 

The group also paraded the words "genocide," "capitalism," and "colonialism" and the statement "Liberation for Palestine and Planet."

As seen in clips shared online, law enforcement officers were on the scene and quickly went into action to arrest the protesters disrupting the event.

Amid arrests, police officers helped divert the balloons and the rest of the parade. Per reports, an unspecified number of arrests were made, but it's yet to be determined if the protesters will face any charges for their actions.

The shocking protest also did not halt the parade as the ceremony continued along its route after law enforcement de-escalated the incident. It will make a final stop at the company's flagship store on Herald Square.

In a Thanksgiving day message, President Joe Biden said, "We have to remind ourselves how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on the face of the earth."

He added, "Today is about coming together, giving thanks for this country we call home. And thanks to all the firefighters, police officers, first responders and our troops, some of whom are stationed abroad."

Prior to the disruption of Macy's Thanksgiving parade, warnings were posted on TikTok and Instagram about a protest that would halt the annual ceremony in New York.

On TikTok, a netizen used an old photo of supermodel Bella Hadid at a protest and wrote, "We're shutting down NYC Thanksgiving Day Parade." 

The TikToker's post then directed viewers to check out another slide with more information on the protest. It read, "Flood Thankstaking for Gaza and Indigenous resistance everywhere and indigenous resistance everywhere, Thursday, November 23rd."

At the moment, the post that called on people to show up at the Macy's parade has received over 72,000 likes and 3,000 shares on TikTok.