Three individuals burned American and Israeli flags outside the New York City consulate Wednesday, resulting in one arrest, ABC News reported.
Outside the Israeli consulate in midtown Manhattan, three people burned American and Israeli flags using an accelerant in a busy bike lane, raising safety fears for cyclists and pedestrians, according to ABC News. Authorities arrested 20-year-old Jahki Lodgson-McCray, charging him with reckless endangerment, menacing, disorderly conduct and failure to use a sidewalk.
1 arrested, 2 at large after burning American, Israeli flags outside Israeli consulate in New York: https://t.co/YZ9oyNylCG #KAKEnews
— KAKE News (@KAKEnews) June 14, 2024
The New York Police Department (NYPD) called the flag burning outside the Israeli consulate a dangerous act that caused bikers to swerve into traffic and endangered pedestrians.
“The flames of the flags presented a danger to bikers having to swerve out of the bike lane onto ongoing traffic and also presented a danger to civilians on the sidewalk,” police said.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is currently searching for the two other suspects involved in the incident. This incident is part of a series of recent troubling events in New York City. Earlier in the week, there were reports of vandalism at the homes of the Jewish director of the Brooklyn Museum and several board members, ABC News reported. Additionally, an episode in the subway involved a masked man leading a chant that targeted Zionists, which the police are also investigating. (RELATED: Communist Revolutionaries Burn US Flags Outside Country Superstar’s Concert)
Please take a close look at these posters. They depict cowards whose criminal behavior will never be tolerated in our great city. The NYPD will identify and apprehend all of them for their failed efforts to sow fear and discord in the place where mutual respect is the essence of… pic.twitter.com/11gBCXLl1k
— NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Operations Kaz Daughtry (@NYPDDaughtry) June 13, 2024
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry condemned the actions of those involved in the flag burning.
“They depict cowards whose criminal behavior will never be tolerated in our great city. The NYPD will identify and apprehend all of them for their failed efforts to sow fear and discord in the place where mutual respect is the essence of who we are,” Daughtry wrote in a social media post.
