Anti-ICE Protests Spread to NYC, 45 Arrested

At least 45 people were arrested as a massive anti-ICE protest in Lower Manhattan Tuesday devolved into chaos with shrieking, sign-holding demonstrators flooding the streets and throwing objects at police, according to sources.

Thousands of angry New Yorkers took to the streets near Foley Square in the shadow of City Hall to protest the Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations ongoing in the city and throughout the country.

At least 45 demonstrators were taken into custody by the NYPD at several locations across downtown in the area of Federal Plaza, according to police sources.

As the protests continued, several chaotic scenes broke out across downtown.

Large groups of protesters, many wearing keffiyehs associated with pro-Palestine political movements, carried on in opposition to the NYPD, which ordered a level three mobilization to handle the mass of people.

Some protesters threw water bottles and other objects at police officers, according to police sources.

Others chanted “Shame! Shame!” as the NYPD took masked demonstrators into custody, video showed.

Several protesters were pepper-sprayed through the course of arrests.

Video circulating online showed some masked protesters attempting to breach a police barricade in an apparent attempt to stop an ICE van from leaving the back of a Federal Plaza building.

One wild apprehension was caught on camera with police corralling a masked man by his backpack — also appearing to take into custody his friend who attempted to intervene in the initial NYPD stop.

Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters took to Foley Square in a raucous demonstration against the ICE raids in the city.

Picketers carried placards reading “Abolish ICE” and “ICE out of New York!” and chanted phrases such as, “Brick by brick, wall by wall, this racist system has got to fall!”

Notable speakers at the protest included Brooklyn Councilwoman Shahana Hanif and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

“In my community everyone is anxious,” Hanif told the frenzied crowd.

“Mayor Adams has made it clear he does not care about working class people… he is collaborating with Trump to use tactics bringing out the military. He’s ok with ICE attacking our communities,” Hanif charged.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also spoke across the street from the federal courthouse where he also took aim at Mayor Eric Adams.

“We’re in a scary situation and I have to call out the fact that Mayor Eric Adams is nowhere to be found in a city full of immigrants,” Williams said Tuesday afternoon.

Williams further called out the NYPD for allowing ICE to “kidnap” people in the city.

The well-attended anti-ICE protest in lower Manhattan comes as similar demonstrations took place in San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago.

These all on the heels of three days of violent anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles County.