34 in police custody after pro-Palestinian protest at Brooklyn
New York City police said Saturday that they had 34 in police custody following a pro-Palestinian protest at the Brooklyn Museum, which reported damage to some artwork and harassment to security staff by demonstrators. Hundreds of protesters marched to the museum on Friday afternoon, set up tents in the lobby and unfurled a “Free Palestine” banner from the building’s roof before police moved in to make arrests. xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv xcv
New York City police officers tackled and punched some protesters during scuffles that broke out in the crowd outside the museum while some demonstrators hurled plastic bottles at officers and shouted insults. Other protesters held banners, waved Palestinian flags and chanted boisterously on the steps of the grand, Beaux Arts museum, which is the city’s second largest.
City police said the 34 people in custody processed and charges determined.
Museum spokesperson Taylor Maatman said in a statement that the museum closed an hour early because of concerns about people’s safety and the art collections.
”Unfortunately, there was damage to existing and newly installed artwork on our plaza, and our public safety staff were physically and verbally harassed,” Maatman said.
The rally started Friday afternoon across the street from the Barclays Center, home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. Marchers banging drums and chanting then made their way to the museum about a mile away.
Organizers, including the group Within Our Lifetime, called on supporters to “flood” and “de-occupy” the museum, saying they wanted to take over the building until officials “ disclose and divest ” from any investments linked to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Videos posted on social media showed guards at the museum trying to secure its doors against the surging crowd, and demonstrators finding other ways inside.
Within Our Lifetime posted on social media that its chair, Nerdeen Kiswani, was “targeted and violently arrested” by police.
New York City has seen hundreds of street demonstrations since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in October.
The Brooklyn Museum sits at the edge of Crown Heights, which is home to one of the city’s largest communities of Orthodox Jews.
A man was pronounced dead after he reportedly electrocuted Wednesday afternoon, according to the Plainfield Police Department.
At around 4:24 p.m. on Wednesday, an officer with the Plainfield Police Department dispatched to the intersection of E 750 S and WIllman Dr. on a possible death investigation.
When the officer arrived, he saw a white pickup truck with its hazard lights on, along with a man and a woman standing on the shoulder of the road. Documents from the department said that the woman was “crying uncontrollably while stating, ‘he is dead’.” The officer then saw a man, later identified as 49-year-old Jeffrey Scott, lying unresponsive in the bushes next to a utility pole.
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The documents said the officer saw a large ladder propped against the pole along with an unknown severed wire dangling from the pole. The officer also saw a long metal telescoping pole with a saw blade tied to the end near the pole.
The woman, who identified as a family member of Scott’s, told police that she had been looking for him for around eight hours when she found him unresponsive. She told police that Scott scrapped metal on the side and he frequented the area to fish.
Officials with Duke Energy confirmed with FOX59/CBS4 that seven customers in Plainfield lost power Wednesday afternoon to around 11 p.m.
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