Several people were arrested in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday night, as people once again rallied against the immigration policies of the Trump administration and the country-wide raids and roundups of undocumented immigrants.
Demonstrators were cuffed for not clearing the access point to Federal Plaza. Like the night before, demonstrations started at Foley Square before moving down Broadway, and later up to the Manhattan Detention Center.
After seeing what’s been happening in Los Angeles, activists in New York City want their voices to be heard in the face of the Trump administration’s strategy to deport more undocumented immigrants.
Even though tensions ran high, it was nothing like Tuesday night, when thousands of people flooded the streets, compared to hundreds on Wednesday.
Hours before the 5 p.m. rally, police were on the move, rolling in strategic response teams to make sure they were in place long before any potential unrest.
Police hope the enforcement measures prevent the kind of chaos that erupted Tuesday night, when roughly 200 protestors confronted police. Officers ultimately made 86 arrests in Foley Square and nearby Federal Plaza.
Of the arrests, 34 were charged with crimes including assault, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration. One person was charged with reckless endangerment. Fifty-two were issued criminal court summonses and released.
Police officials say that during the later protests on Tuesday, demonstrators threw bottles at officers, threw traffic cones and garbage into the roadway.
Amid the chaos, video captured what appeared to be federal agents firing some sort of smoke into a crowd of protesters — a move that seemingly escalated tensions.
So, what started with federal agents engaging in civil enforcement ended with city police tackling civil unrest.
The NYPD says it had the situation under control and it did not ask for federal law enforcement help, creating some concern about the department’s coordination with federal law enforcement partners as they conduct raids and roundups of undocumented immigrants.
“We did not ask for their help last night, the NYPD as you clearly saw last night had it under control,” said NYPD Chief of Department John Chell. “About 2,500 protesters, about 200 of them who were up to committing a little chaos on our streets and we shut it down – quickly.”
The police commissioner, meanwhile, says she told federal partners that New York is not Los Angeles.
“We do not engage in civil enforcement, period. We don’t know where ICE is in the city,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “We don’t know when they are conducting raids. We don’t know where they are conducting raids. Our responsibility is to maintain safety and order on our streets.”
As for the mayhem that broke out Tuesday night, Mayor Eric Adams says some were New Yorkers, and some were not.
“We are aware there are members of Antifa that have made their way into the city, and this is not the first time we have seen outside agitators that continue to disrupt the right to protest and it’s not going to be tolerated here in this city,” he said.
It seemed to echo the warning Adams made earlier this week that “violence and lawlessness” will not be tolerated in the city.
The Trump administration’s actions have fueled heightened tensions and days of demonstrations in Los Angeles, where hundreds of protesters were blasted with tear gas and flash grenades when they blocked streets downtown, set fire and refused to disperse.
