© AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File + Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Protesters had vowed to “flood” the Rockefeller Center Tree lighting
(New York, NY) – A Pro-Palestinian protest unfolded along Sixth Avenue on Wednesday night in Midtown Manhattan — just steps away from where the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting ceremony was being held. There are reports that at least one person was carrying a sign with a swastika on it — the Nazi symbol that is closely associated with anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry.
At one point, steel barricades used by the NYPD in and around the tree lighting ceremony were knocked down, and skirmishes resulted between officers and some of the protesters. In all, seven people were taken into custody at the scene. It’s not clear if they face criminal charges, or may have received a summons.
Meanwhile, the 91st annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting went off without a hitch, delighting those in the crowd as well as millions watching at home. The lit tree will be open to the general public throughout the holiday season — open each day until midnight. Kelly Clarkson, Barry Manilow, and Cher took part in the ceremony. A family from Vestal, in Upstate New York near Binghamton, donated the tree from their family farm.
