Teen anti-Israel protestor is arrested for defacing WWI memorial in Central Park as mayor offers to personally fund reward for help locating other vandals
An anti-Israel teenage protester was arrested for damaging a World I monument in New York City’s Central Park.
The 16-year-old boy is accused of being part of a group that vandalized the 107th Infantry Memorial during a Monday night demonstration that saw hundreds of people march from Hunter College to the Met Gala.
The historic monument was vandalized by several protesters who spray-painted “Gaza” and “Free Palestine” on its base.
The vandals also covered the statue with anti-Israel stickers and one protester was seen burning the American flag while others held up Palestinian flags.
Damaging the monument prompted Mayor Eric Adams to offer $5,000 of his own money for information leading to the arrest of the suspects, whom he called “cowards.”
The 16-year-old boy is accused of being part of a group that vandalized the 107th Infantry Memorial on Monday evening.
The arrested teenager was a constant presence at meetings organized by the pro-Palestinian activist group Within Our Lifetime
The historic monument was vandalized by several protesters who mocked “Gaza” and “Free Palestine” on the base
The vandals also covered the statue with anti-Israel stickers and a protester was seen burning the American flag
The Democrat said, “I want to be very clear. Despite the unpopular idea that people don’t want to say it – I want to say it – I love America. And the reason we are here is because of men and women like the statue behind us.
“And we cannot remain silent when our symbols of freedom are violated by individuals who clearly hate our country and our way of life.
“I’m not going to be silent and we shouldn’t be silent either, because our silence creates the belief that everything is okay, and it’s not okay.”
CrimeStoppers has also offered a $10,000 reward and police have hung posters with images of the suspects near the statue.
According to the New York Post, the arrested teenager was a constant presence at meetings organized by the pro-Palestinian activist group Within Our Lifetime.
An American flag was left burning on the ground as chants of “Free Palestine” rang out
The damage to the monument prompted Mayor Eric Adams to offer $5,000 of his own money for information leading to the arrest of the suspects
He faces two counts of third-degree criminal mischief and two counts of making graffiti.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry shared a photo of the boy in handcuffs, along with a warning message.
“The despicable vandalism we saw at the WWI Memorial earlier this week will not be ignored and will not go unpunished,” Daughtry said on X.
‘One of the perpetrators was put in handcuffs today thanks to the world’s greatest detectives. These aren’t just childish jokes. It is an act of desecration that undermines the freedoms our heroes fought and died for.”
The spray-painted messages on the statue had been cleaned Tuesday afternoon.
He faces two counts of criminal mischief in the third degree, and two counts of making graffiti
A thousand pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with the NYPD on Monday evening, just a block away from the Met Gala in New York
Police are confronted by pro-Palestinian protesters at the Met Gala
Vandals also desecrated the Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman monument on Grand Army Plaza on 59th Street on Monday evening.
The monument honors the soldiers who died in the Second World War and shows them in the throes of battle.
According to the Central Park Conservancy, soldiers of the 107th Infantry of the Seventh Regiment helped break the German defense line of the Hindenburg at the end of World War I.
It was dedicated on September 29, 1927, and the location was chosen for its proximity to the regiment’s armory, just east of Park Avenue.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).