As celebrities walked the Met Gala’s iconic red carpet, a contrasting scene unfolded across Manhattan’s Upper East Side on the evening of May 6, as hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets during the event, reported Hyperallergic.
A significant police presence encircled the museum, erecting steel barricades, implementing street closures, and deploying numerous armed officers to deter demonstrators. At approximately 6 p.m., protesters who navigated through Central Park and succeeded in dismantling barricades near the entrance were met with arrests.
Activists marched onto the streets, navigating through Park, Madison, and Fifth Avenues to bypass roadblocks and traffic, in a coordinated effort spearheaded by grassroots resistance movements such as We the People (WTP) and Within Our Lifetime, among others.
June Johnson, a New York-based activist affiliated with WTP, explained to Hyperallergic why they chose the night of the Met Gala to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza, stating, “It’s abhorrent to celebrate celebrity consumerism while a genocide is taking place.”
Protestors also drew attention to the level of luxury and excess on view at the event — which last year raised $22 million — as the famine in Gaza has increased.
