Multiple people were arrested amid a clash between pro-Iranian regime demonstrators, who erected a shrine to the slain Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the former supreme leader of Iran, and anti-Khamenei protesters at Washington Square Park on Friday, cops said.
The pro-Khamenei activists, who at the height of their demonstration numbered about 50 people, assembled beneath the Washington Square Arch, where they flew Iranian flags and set up tables, which featured pictures of the ayatollah and other revolutionary figures, including Malcolm X and Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba, as well as racial-justice figures, like George Floyd.
“People cannot change regimes by assassination,” said a Brooklyn resident who gave his name as Shahid Comrade, 70. “This war only makes the world unsafe. This is a step towards World War Three.”
Assembled in opposition on the north side of the arch was an equal number of anti-Khamenei protesters, several of whom were draped in Israeli and U.S. flags, who could be heard chanting, “Khamenei’s dead! Khamenei’s dead!”
“They have the woke mind virus,” said Queens resident Shan Singh, 35, who stood with the anti-Khamenei crowd. “They hold this memorial under Washington’s arch. It is a spit in the face. Iran is a theocratic state and we’re for the separation of church and state. Islam is not compatible with the U.S. Now we have Mamdani and we’re following that trend.”
An NYPD spokesman could not immediately say how many people were arrested and what they were charged with.
Witnesses described one incident where an anti-Khamenei protester jumped a barrier in an effort to snatch a sign. The man was reportedly beaten by the pro-Iranian protesters before he was taken into police custody.
Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter-turned-far right influencer Jake Lang briefly showed up in a van and committed a lewd act directed at the pro-Iranian regime protesters.
Khamenei was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28 at the outset of a joint Israeli and U.S. operation intended to topple the Iranian government.
President Trump on Friday demanded the “unconditional surrender” of Iran and the installation of “acceptable” leaders as conditions to end the weeklong war with Tehran that has spread across the volatile Middle East.
