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Crowd Gathers For ‘Occupy City Hall’ Protest In New York City

Screen Shot: Shelby Talcott @shelbytalcott) on Twitter

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Protesters gathered Tuesday outside of New York City’s City Hall to demand that the city council vote to cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget.

A man showed up in the afternoon wearing a Spider-Man costume to encourage protesters to engage in dialogue with those they disagree with.

If “the 20-somethings, the 30-somethings, even the teenagers, don’t learn how to have a conversation with people, our peers that may think different than us, we ain’t gonna progress as a society,” he told the crowd. “You gotta have discussions, you gotta learn how to have a dialogue … and that’s what this generation has lost.”

He later had a run-in with a Trump supporter who showed up at the protests with a sign that said “all lives matter.” A crowd confronted the man as Spider-Man tried to de-escalate the situation. The Trump supporter was eventually lead away by the police. (RELATED: ‘It’s Definitely A Revolution-Liberation Movement’: Protesters Demand $1 Billion Cut To NYPD Budget)

Ahead of the city council vote, which was scheduled for Tuesday night, protesters formed a human barricade in front of City Hall. One protester had a megaphone and repeatedly told the people forming the barricade that if they were afraid, they should “go the fuck home.”

“We are here to protect everyone,” he told the crowd, “and to keep the police out.”

He also said that he wanted to hang a police officer from a tree.

“I wanna put my foot on his fucking neck like he do us,” he said. “I wanna put my foot on his back like he do us. I wanna hang him from a fucking tree like he do us.”

The human barricade continued later into the night when protesters began calling for backup from “white people first.”

The protesters appeared to be “ripping down construction material” so in order to expand the zone by blocking off multiple streets.

Protesters chanted “NYPD! Suck my dick!” in video captured by Townhall reporter Julio Rosas.

The line of officers changed shifts around midnight with some “visible frustration” displayed.

Two George Washington monuments were defaced with red paint Monday during the New York protests. City officials removed the paint shortly after, but the statues retained a slight red tint.

Protesters are calling for the city council to vote to cut at least $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget. Calls to defund the police have become somewhat common among activists during the protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis Police custody after an officer kneeled on his neck.

The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously earlier this month to disband the city’s police department.