NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS) — Three people were arrested after a driver hit a pro-Palestinian protester on the Upper East Side Tuesday, police said, and 50 protesters were arrested at an encampment at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Chelsea later in the day.
NYPD Det. Melissa Delacruz said the protester was hit around 8:45 a.m. near the intersection of East 72nd Street and Park Avenue.
About 25 protesters had been wrapping up a demonstration outside a building and were walking away when two of them got into an argument with a driver. The 57-year-old driver then struck a 55-year-old protester with his vehicle.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered later in the day Tuesday near the New York Public Library in Midtown.Selçuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
The demonstrator was treated at a hospital for minor injuries. The motorist, the demonstrator and another demonstrator were taken into custody, Delacruz said. Police aren't releasing their names as the charges are still pending, she said.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office said it could not provide any information about the incident until the defendants were arraigned.
The demonstration was one of three protests Tuesday morning in front of the homes of university trustees, according to members of the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest. The group organized a protest encampment on campus that sparked similar demonstrations at other colleges across the U.S. in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, 50 people were arrested Tuesday at a protest encampment at the FIT campus on West 27th Street, the NYPD said.
NYPD officers in riot gear confronted dozens of protesters at the campus, making the arrests before a cleaning crew came in to remove the tents.
Police arrest demonstrators who were blocking the street after the clearing of a pro-Palestine encampment at the Fashion Institute of Technology on May 7, 2024.Alex Kent/Getty Images
Police arrest demonstrators at a pro-Palestine encampment that was being cleared at the Fashion Institute of Technology on May 7, 2024.Alex Kent/Getty Images
