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Pro-Hamas mob crashes annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, brawls with cops

November 30, 2023 | | Print Article

A mob of militant pro-Hamas activists tried to disrupt the annual lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City on Wednesday night.

Thousands of people turned out on this chilly late November night to witness the traditional Gotham event which was also televised nationally, among them was a contingent of left-wing activists who clashed with police as they attempted to spoil the occasion for everyone else.

Videos posted to X, previously known as Twitter, show the troublemakers who were holding signs with pro-Palestine and anti-Israel slogans and even reportedly a Nazi swastika, trying to overwhelm the cops at barriers.

Other videos showed a hooligan burning an NYPD hat and one individual making it racial by taunting a cop that he could be the next Derek Chauvin, referring to the former Minneapolis police officer who was legally lynched for his role in the death of “woke” martyr figure George Floyd and was shanked in prison last week.

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But the good guys won, preventing what could have been an ugly scene with multiple arrests being made.

“We allow people to exercise their first amendment, but by no means do we allow anyone to come out here to do hate, crime or assault,” said NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell.

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The effort to disrupt the lighting of the enormous tree at 30 Rockefeller Plaza that brought together Jew-haters and leftists who loathe Christmas was organized by the pro-Hamas group Within Our Lifetime which promoted the “Flood the Tree Lighting for Gaza” action on social media.

If the group believed that wrecking the occasion for others would result in sympathy for their cause, they were sorely mistaken according to some of those who were in attendance at 30 Rock.

“I had planned my holiday around this event, being a big fan of Christmas. Now I’m walled in by a bunch of terrorist-loving a–holes calling for intifada,” Jamie Fry told the New York Post.

The 42-year-old who had flown in from the UK to attend the lighting of the tree called the protest “very annoying.”

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“Their strategy for sympathy is disruption, but all they’ll get out of me is a big f–k you,” Fry said.

(Video: YouTube/Eyewitness News ABC7NY)

“It’s super, super annoying. Just excruciating. Seeing these people in such large numbers, it makes me feel embarrassed to be an American because people are watching this happening from abroad. Kudos to the cops for keeping these people under control and for showing restraint, because they deal with a lot of verbal abuse,” 33-year-old Opal Burnett of St. Louis, MO told the outlet.

“For more than eight decades, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has stood as a holiday beacon for New Yorkers and visitors alike. While the lights, decorations, and stars have changed through the years, visiting the Tree remains a quintessential New York experience,” the Rockefeller Center states on its website.

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The increasingly aggressive protests are being staged to pressure President Joe Biden into forcing a ceasefire in Gaza with domestic allies of Hamas determined to prevent Israel from eradicating the terror organization responsible for the massacre of over 1,300 of its citizens during a barbaric attack on civilian areas last month.

Chris Donaldson
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