New York City protesters mixed Freddie Gray with May Day on Friday night, May 1, 2015. Demonstrators from the Disarm NYPD protest group joined members of the annual May Day rally, which advocates for workers’ rights, and at least a dozen other groups on a march through the city.
By 5 p.m., more than a thousand people had gathered in Union Square to join the parade. Shouts of “black lives matter” mingled with “fight for $15” and “we’re here, we’re queer, we’re fabulous.” As protesters made their way downtown, bemused and sometimes frustrated New Yorkers looked on from the other side of police barricades. Protesters gathered in Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, where activists spoke about their experiences with law enforcement as a separate group discussed immigration rights.
Though the march occurred just days after NYPD officers arrested more than 100 people during an unplanned rally for Freddie Gray, activist sources say just two arrests were made on Friday. –Kathleen Caulderwood
Photos by C.S. Muncy and Kathleen Caulderwood for the Village Voice.
See also:
• Protesters Clash With NYPD During ‘NYC Rise Up & Shut It Down with Baltimore’
• Freddie Gray Arrest Exposes an Antiquated Knife Law Similar to New York’s