Washington Square Park vigil for Ayatollah Khamenei turns violent
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Chaos erupted in Washington Square Park in Manhattan as a ceremony commemorating the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei turned violent on Friday; In the video, a man can be seen being punched to the ground while trying to tear down a poster of the late Iranian leader.
The video showed a man trying to take down a poster of the dictator killed in an Israeli airstrike last week when a man wearing a SpongeBob T-shirt punched him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground.
Others began fighting, prompting the intervention of the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
As the fight escalated, the crowd could be heard swearing.
A memorial table in New York for Khamenei, who is accused of killing thousands of Iranians. (Fox News Digital’s Rashid Umar Abbasi)
Many people detained by the police were recorded on video.
The vigil featured Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, candles and a makeshift memorial table covered with photos of Khamenei, with one observer describing the scene as “The People’s Republic of New York.”
Meanwhile, nearby counterprotesters waved Iranian, American and Israeli flags and chanted “USA”
Khomeini supporters waved a large flag bearing his portrait. (Fox News Digital’s Rashid Umar Abbasi)
In a flyer announcing the event, organizers described Khamenei’s death as “an assassination by US government forces.”
The attack in downtown Tehran that killed Khamenei and other regime leaders on Saturday was carried out by the Israeli army.
US officials have denied any involvement in the incident.
“Khamenei defended the honor of the Iranian people throughout his life and resolutely opposed Zionism. [sic] “Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 toppled the US-backed puppet government, the Iranian people have resisted Western domination and the exploitation of their land, labor and resources,” organizers wrote in the brochure.
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“At that time, Iran severed all ties with the Zionists” [sic] regime and was the first country to host a Palestinian embassy on its territory, and also materially supported Palestinian resistance and national liberation movements around the world.”
Khamenei’s supporters included a group of counterprotesters who slammed the vigil, carrying American flags and the pre-1979 Islamic Revolution Iranian Lion and Sun flags.
“We’re here to show everyone that Iranians don’t like the regime,” one man at the rally told Fox News correspondent Nicole Parker on “Hannity.”
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Protesters and counter-protesters gathered in Washington Square Park in New York City, New York, on Friday afternoon. (Fox News Digital’s Rashid Umar Abbasi)
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“My family is in Iran, but they’re all fighting against the regime,” another woman told Parker. “They are happy with this, they want this war, this war is not about the Iranian people, this war is against the Islamic Republic.”
Fox News Digital’s Azziana Solomon contributed to this report.
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