Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in New York City’s Times Square refused to stand aside to allow police to respond to a report of a potential bomb at a demonstration on Saturday, making an already dangerous situation even worse.
The incident arose about 4 p.m. in Manhattan when an Uber driver reported finding what appeared to be a grenade in the back seat of his vehicle after dropping off a passenger in the area where the protesters were marching.
Fortunately, the NYPD bomb squad later determined the grenade was a fake — a novelty item rather than a live explosive, WABC-TV reported.
But what occurred before that determination was delivered made the whole incident even more dangerous, both for the police and the protesters.
Grenade was left in a Uber in Times Square today as anti-Israel protestors marched in that direction and impeded cops from reaching the scene quickly.
Thankfully the grenade was inert and no one was injured.
In the video a mob of people swarmed the car as police moved in. pic.twitter.com/d5uifA9me5
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) March 3, 2024
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Members of the NYPD had arrived on the scene in riot gear after the grenade was reported.
It is hard to fault the police for their reaction. They were told that there was a possible explosive device found adjacent to a Palestinian protest.
The proper precaution is to arrive in riot gear and with members of the bomb squad because the officers had no way of knowing if protesters themselves were preparing for mass violence, or if someone was targeting the protesters.
Should those who block first responders face harsher punishment?
Given the volatility of the issue of Israel’s war of self-defense against the murderous terrorist group Hamas, and the well-documented history of leftist, pro-Palestinian mobs descending into ugliness, either of those was definitely possible.
In any case, as soon as the officers deployed, the protesters swarmed in and began shoving and obstructing the path of the police.
Some participants of the Millions March for Palestine protest were arrested for blocking a police vehicle.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry blasted the situation in a post on X. He posted a video showing the protesters mobbing the police officers and impeding their access to the Uber car.
“Happy Saturday to all! Except the people who thought it was a good idea to block an NYPD ESU vehicle on the way to a bomb threat call. They will be spending their Saturday where they belong – in jail!” he wrote.
Happy Saturday to all! Except the people who thought it was a good idea to block an NYPD ESU vehicle on the way to a bomb threat call. They will be spending their Saturday where they belong – in jail! pic.twitter.com/C0adj5waUj
— NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Operations Kaz Daughtry (@NYPDDaughtry) March 2, 2024
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell also jumped in to say that the whole situation was “dangerous” and slammed the whole idea of allowing demonstrators to take over the public streets.
“This is dangerous! One day when the ‘call’ is real and people get hurt , then what?” he asked in his X post. “I will tell you what…..silence and cowardice from all the people who advocate for protesters to be allowed to disrupt the streets. Then the first responders will arrive to do the best they can!”
This is dangerous! One day when the “call” is real and people get hurt , then what? I will tell you what…..silence and cowardice from all the people who advocate for protesters to be allowed to disrupt the streets. Then the first responders will arrive to do the best they can!… https://t.co/VmN46OOInS
— NYPD Chief of Patrol (@NYPDChiefPatrol) March 3, 2024
Police were finally able to break through the crowd and establish a security perimeter around the vehicle on 42nd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, the New York Post reported.
These protesters gathering in the U.S. to protest foreign wars simply make everyone’s lives more dangerous as left-wingers use these foreign actions as an excuse to cause chaos in the U.S.A.
And in this case they could have caused a situation where they put themselves directly in the path of an explosive device by preventing the police from neutralizing a bomb threat.
