One man on Staten Island fought off a large group of protesters, who had gathered to oppose the opening of a new migrant shelter, by dropping his pants and revealing underwear with the American flag.
Hundreds of heated but peaceful protesters gathered on Staten Island this week to protest by using an unused school building to house migrants who have flooded New York City.
Protesters showed up to oppose the use of the closed St. John Villa Academy as a 300-bed makeshift shelter for some of the thousands of asylum seekers transferred from the border to New York City.
A video posted by FreedomNews shows a counter-protester taking an aggressive stance toward a group of dozens of men, vocally denouncing the shelter.
It’s not immediately clear what the protesters are shouting back and forth about, but eventually one of the men from the group walks forward toward the man whose pants are down, revealing vividly patriotic boxers.
A Staten Island counter-protester showed off his patriotic underpants to people angry over the use of an old school to house migrants
The incident is approaching a blow as there is some pushing. Violence was ultimately avoided as police officers led the disruptive, partially unclothed man away
The incident is approaching a blow as there is some pushing. Violence was ultimately avoided as police officers led the disruptive, partially unclothed man away.
Members of the protest shouted “get out” as the man was led away.
In another clip from the protest, a well-dressed man stands on a platform leading a large group chanting, “Save our children!”
Next, the group is seen reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the national anthem before other speakers are brought forward.
One of those speakers was Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, who took pity on the protesters and spoke of the liberal leadership welcoming tens of thousands of migrants to the city.
‘We did not vote for your policy. We can’t submit to your policies… let Staten Island secede,” she said to loud cheers.
“I will not allow us to lose our country to these leftist social policies,” she continued.
Signs lined the protest read “No F**kin Way” and “Mayor Adams is a dork.”
A Staten Island judge initially ruled in favor of the protesters, who do not want the old Catholic schoolhouse used to house migrants.
But the city fought back, and a few hours later a Supreme Court judge reversed the ruling.
Adams’ office said less than 2 percent of the nearly 100,000 migrants who have come to the city are being hosted on Staten Island.
A man led the hundreds of protesters in a chant of “Save Our Children,” before the group recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem
New York Mayor Eric Adams should call on Joe Biden to close border, read one man’s sign
“No damn way!” read the large sign in front of the protest
“Mayor Adams is a dork,” one sign read. Adams has said repeatedly that the city is overwhelmed by the roughly 100,000 migrants who have poured into the city in the past year.
Hundreds gathered to oppose the new shelter, which would be located in an old Catholic high school
Monday’s rally in Staten Island came after tensions rose over the weekend outside Gracie Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
An anti-illegal migrant protest led by Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder and former mayoral candidate, gathered on 86th Street and East End Avenue, where things turned physical with a handful of counter-protesters.
Sliwa spoke out against his former opponent, who has opened more than 200 shelters across the five boroughs to try to house the tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived from the southern border.
“These migrants skipped the line,” Sliwa said. “If I were a migrant and you gave me the chance to stay ahead and stay in a hotel, give me three meals…in fact, give me more than homeless people born in America or veterans who are out of luck – you “Damned right, they’ll keep coming.”
He was adamant in his message: “Americans first, migrants at the back!”
At one point during the protest, a woman was arrested after trying to burn the American flag and stomping on it on the ground.
“We don’t need this hate! We don’t need this damn hate! That’s not what this is supposed to be, but this is what they make of it,’ she cried.
Sliwa – a longtime presence in New York media and politics since founding the “unarmed crime prevention” organization – was arrested for a second time this week after leading a protest against bringing shelters to Staten Island.
“No one is against immigration as long as it is done the right way,” said Sliwa, who told DailyMail.com he plans to run for mayor again in 2025. “A lot of people with us were immigrants themselves.”
Curtis Sliwa, a former New York City mayoral candidate and founder of Guardian Angels, was one of the keynote speakers at the protest and one of many arrested as Trump supporters and pro-migrant protesters fought, blows being dealt.
At some point during the protest, this woman was arrested after trying to burn the American flag and stomping on it on the ground
Sliwa was relentless in his criticism of Adams, who he said was proving unable to deal with a problem he welcomed in New York City.
“He asked for this immigration problem, he provoked Abbott,” he said. “But for the past few months he’s been saying ‘No mas, No mas,’ and he has no plan but to try and make their problem so that it becomes everyone’s problem in New York State.”
“He asked for this immigration problem, he provoked Abbott,” he said. “But for the past few months he’s been saying ‘No mas, No mas,’ and he has no plan but to try and make their problem so that it becomes everyone’s problem in New York State.”
The Guardian Angels founder has proposed the alternative of using Riker’s Island to give migrants a six-month transition period before being told to make their way.
“There are empty buildings, a lot of land, there is a bridge that takes them in and out, they stay on the island for six months,” he said.
In early August, lawmakers in New York announced plans to house at least 80 newly arrived migrants in Brooklyn’s McCarren Park.
The group lives in temporary housing in the park’s recreation center, which is popular with residents of the affluent and very liberal neighborhood of Williamsburg thanks to its swimming pool and gym.
The mayor’s office recently warned that New York’s migrant shelters are nearly full and officials have said they are in the process of discouraging those who have crossed the southern border from coming to the Big Apple.
It is estimated that nearly 10,000 migrants in New York City were bussed north in the past month by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
The NYPD made several arrests, including Sliwa and two supporters who were arrested for civil disobedience
City officials say the number of migrants arriving in New York since spring 2022 is approaching 100,000, overwhelming a shelter system designed to house tens of thousands fewer people.
New York City has a unique court-imposed obligation to provide emergency shelter to anyone who requests it, but officials have said in recent weeks that the influx of migrants seeking asylum in the US has made it increasingly difficult to fulfill that duty.
City officials said some 2,300 migrants came to the city seeking shelter last week alone.
Adams sent emissaries to the border last month to distribute fliers, informing migrants that shelter in his town is no longer guaranteed and that housing and food are expensive in New York City. It spurred them to consider other US cities.