(
\n Apr. 13, 2026
\n \/ JNS
\n )<\/p>\n
Multiple people were arrested on Monday after activists with Jewish Voice for Peace and other anti-Israel groups attempted to enter the Manhattan office of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) before blocking traffic on Third Avenue.<\/p>\n
The New York City Police Department told JNS that the exact number of people taken into custody was not immediately available.<\/p>\n
Video<\/a> from the scene showed protesters trying to access the building at 780 Third Ave., which houses offices for Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). After being denied entry, some demonstrators removed outer layers of clothing to reveal shirts reading, \u201cFund people, not bombs.\u201d<\/p>\n Protesters later sat on the sidewalk chanting, \u201cfree Palestine\u201d and \u201cstop the bombs on Iran, stop the bombs on Lebanon, stop the bombs on Palestine,\u201d before moving into the street and blocking traffic.<\/p>\n Among those present were Chelsea Manning, who was convicted in 2013 under the Espionage Act, and Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour. Manning was later seen being taken into custody.<\/p>\n Police were observed carrying demonstrators and placing them onto NYPD buses.<\/p>\n Darializa Avila Chevalier, a candidate in New York\u2019s 13th Congressional District endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, was also arrested \u201calong with 100 others,\u201d according to a post<\/a> on her campaign\u2019s social media account.<\/p>\n Jewish Voice for Peace took responsibility for organizing the demonstration, stating<\/a> that hundreds of protesters were participating in a sit-in to oppose U.S. arms support for Israel and to pressure Schumer and Gillibrand ahead of a Senate vote related to weapons transfers.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, the Israeli military is using the weapons sold by the U.S. to flatten southern Lebanon, ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the West Bank, and continue its genocide in Gaza,\u201d the group wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stu Smith, an investigative analyst at the Manhattan Institute, told JNS that more protests are expected. \u201cWith dozens of arrests, Palestinian Political Prisoners Week is off to a hot start in New York,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople should expect more chaos like this as the week continues, especially as April 17, Palestinian Prisoners\u2019 Day, approaches and the anniversary of the start of the Columbia encampment,\u201d he told JNS, citing a planned Palestinian Prisoners Day March in Herald Square in New York City set for April 18.<\/p>\n