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Anti-ICE Protesters Detained After Tense Standoff In Times Square
By
David Cruz
Published Sep 19, 2020
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Joshua Potash
By
David Cruz
Published Sep 19, 2020
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A chaotic scene unfolded in Times Square on Saturday afternoon, with videos showing police roughly rounding up several dozen protesters demonstrating against Immigration Customs & Enforcement.
Joshua Potash, a protester who regularly attends citywide demonstrations, said Times Square was the meeting place for the march against ICE and allegations that a doctor at an ice facility in Georgia performed unwanted hysterectomies and other gynecological procedures on women that left them sterile.
After protesters in bicycles temporarily blocked traffic near Duffy Square to let protesters through, the police began to corner them. The moment protesters on bicycles hit the crosswalk, the NYPD used a loud radio acoustic device in an attempt to disperse the crowd, said Potash.The device warned them to get off the street or be subject to arrest. All this was happening as the police strategically placed large vehicles near the protesters.
As several protesters on bicycles held their ground on the southwest crosswalk by West 46th Street and Seventh Avenue, Potash saw officers using zip ties to round up protesters. After six or seven people were placed in police custody, that's when Potash noticed even more people gathering.
"That created a standoff for 45 minutes," said Potash.
After 45 minutes, another group of protesters sat on the southeast corner of West 46th Street as a contingent of officers surrounded them. They tightly linked arms as officers began to grab and detain them. Protesters held onto each other for several hours.
"Some of those arrests looked kind of vicious," said Potash. "I think the protesters knew they were going to be yanked apart but it was still violent and upsetting to watch."
The demonstration follows similar violent clashes between protesters and police that happened in Foley Square on Thursday and Friday night by anti-ICE protesters outraged over the procedures that took place in Georgia.
"The plan was a normal march, but it turned into a mass civil disobedience action because they didn't let people even step off [the sidewalk]," said Potash.
Other protests calling for the abolition of ICE occurred in other parts of the city, including demonstrations in Pearl Street and Madison Avenue. The NYPD told Gothamist/WNYC that a total of 86 people were arrested. Some protesters were hit with disorderly conduct charges.
Federal legislators are now calling on an investigation into the ICE procedures.
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David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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