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On September 15, 2024, a demonstration took place across the street from the Young Israel synagogue in Cedarhurst, NY, where a pro-Israel event was being held to sell stolen Palestinian property. Shortly after the protesters gathered peacefully across the street, the police ordered the pro-Palestinian crowd to move about a block away to an unacceptable location, making it difficult for them to be seen or heard. No reason was provided for this order.
Police officers on horseback then attacked and physically pushed the protesters with force [as seen in this video at 2:13]. Those being harassed repeatedly asserted their First Amendment right to protest [2:45], insisting that the police had no legal grounds to remove them [0:51]. It was made clear to the officers that the sidewalk remained unobstructed [2:27], yet the police continued their actions without justification.
Some protesters were forcibly moved by officers on foot, who physically pushed them, causing them to leave behind some of their belongings. After an officer promised one victim that the police would retrieve any items left behind [4:01], a protester witnessed a neighbor stealing his belongings. Despite informing the officer of the theft and identifying the thief [4:52], the officers completely ignored the incident.
For about 90 minutes, one of the organizers repeatedly requested to speak to a supervisor to address the urgent situation, but the request was ignored by all officers [2:55, 4:15, 6:45, 6:52, 7:52, 8:41, 9:26, 10:14]. At one point, an officer closed his car window in the middle of a brief conversation [7:42]. It appeared that the police were more interested in pleasing the venue’s well-connected owners, who have close ties with local officials [0:09, 0:27, 5:10].
The Nassau County Police Commissioner eventually arrived on the scene and was approached by a protester [10:55] pleading, "Since we started, I have been requesting to speak to a supervisor multiple times, but they simply refuse. I respectfully request to speak to a supervisor." The Commissioner replied, "You can file a complaint; you can go to the precinct at the end of the protest. Right now, everyone is a little busy." The protester responded, "Maybe if there is a moment in between, can I speak to someone?" The Commissioner answered, "Sure." The protester continued, "There are so many people here. I believe there is one minute to speak to me." The Commissioner replied, "Maybe later when everything calms down." The protester noted, "I have been waiting for over an hour."
During the protest, some Jewish anti-Zionist demonstrators chose to step on an Israeli flag. The Commissioner gave an unusual order [11:44]: "You are standing on something; that’s also littering. So I don’t want to leave that on the ground." The protester responded, "We will not leave anything on the ground when we leave." The Commissioner insisted, "Can you please pick that up?" The protester replied, "No. We are going to make sure that everything is clean." The Commissioner persisted, "I am asking you… to please pick it up." The protester answered, "I’m not sure we can do so."
In one of the final exchanges [12:03], when the protesters again asked to speak to a supervisor, the Commissioner responded, "Since you didn’t comply with my request, I will not fulfill yours." At another point, an officer refused to display his badge, ID number, or name [6:20], and another officer asked the protesters to stop video recording them [8:17].
After a while that a hand-held megaphone was used by the protestors, Deputy Inspector Morano ordered not the use the loudspeaker or be issued a summons. But instantly, when being asked to discuss with him important issues, he refused [9:35].
The Nasau Police Department is guilty unlawful physical harassment and damage of personal property.
The events at the protest have raised serious concerns about the behavior of Nassau County police and their treatment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.