Anti-Israel Protesters in Times Square Block NYPD Response to Bomb Threat

Radical anti-Israel demonstrators hindered the New York Police Department’s response to a reported explosive device found by an Uber driver, according to authorities who were unable to reach the site of the scene in due time as a result.

The incident unfolded on Saturday when the driver noticed a grenade in his vehicle after a fare drop-off near 42nd Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan. 

Due to protesters opposing Israel’s war on Hamas blocking the streets, the police response was delayed. 

The NYPD faced challenges in accessing the location where the grenade, later identified as harmless, was discovered in the Uber car on Saturday evening, according to The New York Post.  Law enforcement eventually managed to secure the area surrounding the vehicle and confirmed the grenade was non-functional.

Arrests were made among the protesters for obstructing the path of emergency services en route to the scene.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, who oversees the NYPD Security Operations Center, slammed the pro-Palestinian protesters blocking the department’s Emergency Service Unit in a post later that day.

“Happy Saturday to all! Except the people who thought it was a good idea to block an NYPD ESU vehicle on the way to a bomb threat call,” he wrote. “They will be spending their Saturday where they belong – in jail!”

In January, at a pro-Palestinian protest that shut down the Sundance Film Festival, Israeli actress and producer Noa Tishby spoke with demonstrators and revealed the ignorance of those chanting against Israel with radical slogans.

In one shocking incident that triggered widespread outrage over Veterans Day Weekend in November, a pro-Palestinian mob was seen cheering on a protester who climbed a flagpole and tore down U.S. flags as demonstrators marched through central Manhattan.

The demonstrations began the previous night in Columbus Circle and made its way to Grand Central Terminal, where protestors kicked in the doors as law enforcement sheltered inside:

As they marched through the streets of Manhattan for the second night in a row, they briefly forced the closure of the transportation hub.

The current conflict in Gaza began on October 7 after the U.S.-designated Islamic terror group, whose charter calls openly for the murder of Jews and the elimination of the Jewish state through relentless jihad, perpetrated the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history in October, in an operation stemming from its radical beliefs. 

The attack saw some 3,000 terrorists burst into Israel by land, sea, and air, gunning down participants at an outdoor music festival while others went door-to-door hunting for Jewish men, women, and children in local towns who were then subject to torture, rape, execution, immolation, and kidnapping.

The attack resulted in roughly 1,200 dead inside the Jewish state, over 5,300 more wounded, and at least 242 hostages of all ages taken — of which more than half remain in Gaza.

The vast majority of the victims are civilians and include dozens of American citizens.

In one viral clip from November, people in New York City were seen willing to support Hamas in its goal to “free Palestine” — until they were exposed to what the terrorist group actually preaches.

According to world-renowned military historian and professor Dr. Victor Davis Hanson, Hamas’ “death cult” relies on “useful Western idiots” to support the Palestinian cause, which has “fused with the leftwing DEI industry.” In addition, he argues, pro-Palestinian protests and support for Hamas in the U.S. have alienated many Americans and will all but ensure a tough conservative president in 2024.

Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.