Protester cuffed as pro & con groups rally at Tish-hosted drag story hour
A masked protester was arrested during clashing demonstrations outside a Manhattan drag story hour hosted by state Attorney General Letitia James on Sunday, cops said.
The gold-masked man was taken into custody around 11:30 a.m. after an assault at the protest outside the LGBTQ Community Center on W. 13th St. in Greenwich Village. He had come to protest against the event, a witness told the Daily News.
Video posted on Twitter shows a small group of protesters, including a man in a Proud Boys sweatshirt, across the street from the center while a much larger crowd of counterprotesters lined the sidewalk to show their support for the event.
At one point, the gold-masked man can be seen rattling police barricades before he’s taken into custody.
An NYPD spokeswoman had no additional information about the arrest Sunday afternoon.
Prior to the arrest, the man shoved cameras held by journalists and “slapped” an activist who supported the event, the witness told The News.
“There was at least one community member that was hit in the face,” the witness, who gave her name as LK, said of the attack.
“It was joyful, there was music, noisemakers, lots of sparkles and a really positive turnout,” added LK, who regularly comes to drag story hours to show support. “There were still protesters showing up and screaming profanities and obscenities at the families.”
James posted photos from the event on her Instagram page.
“It’s time for Drag Story Hour! We’re at @lgbtcenternyc with some amazing @dragstoryhournyc storytellers, New York families, elected officials, and community leaders to kick off our Drag Story Hour read-a-thon!” she posted.
Similar family-oriented events have been canceled across the nation in the wake of harassment and threats from anti-LGBTQ groups like the far-right Proud Boys whose leader, Enrique Tarrio, is on trial along with four other members for sedition in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection.
In September, the Morrisania Library in the Bronx canceled a show starring drag artist Desmond Napoles after the teenage celebrity received hate-filled violent threats.