Anti-Israel protests have broken out across US since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023
NY lawmakers to propose jail time for protesters waving flags of terror groups: report
NYC Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola on lawmakers' proposal to give jail time to protesters waving terror group flags.
Anti-Israel protesters who wave flags of terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah could face jail time in New York should lawmakers pass a proposed bill.
The office of New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who is a Democrat, confirmed to Fox News that the lawmaker is introducing the bill, known as the Stand Against Flags of Enemy Terrorists Act.
The proposed bill, which the New York Post first reported on, would expand the definition of aggravated harassment in the first degree to include cases where someone displays a symbol of a foreign terrorist organization with the intent to harass, annoy or threaten another person.
Those found guilty could face up to four years in jail.
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS AT BARNARD COLLEGE ARRESTED AFTER MOB TURNS VIOLENT
An anti-Israel protester bears a Hamas flag and headband while marching in a Nakba Day rally on May 18, 2024, in the Bay Ridge section of New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Hoylman-Sigal is introducing the bill along with New York Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who is also a Democrat.
New York City Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola, a Republican, told "Fox & Friends First" that she hopes the fact that two Democrats are introducing the bill will help persuade liberal lawmakers to vote for the bill.
An anti-Israel protester waved a Hezbollah flag at a rally in New York City in September. (FNTV)
"We’ve already criminalized burning crosses, swastikas and nooses," Ariola said. "Why not this new wave of how to threaten and terrorize people of a certain religion or ethnicity?"
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST IN NYC DEVOLVES INTO VIOLENCE AND MAYHEM
Ariola said that while groups like the American Civil Liberties Union may challenge the proposed bill on free speech grounds, the flags of terrorist organizations "are messages of hate."
Anti-Israel protests have popped up throughout the U.S. amid Israel's war in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks, which killed around 1,200 people.
Last month, anti-Israel protesters were arrested at New York City’s Barnard College after agitators took over a building on campus. A week earlier, violent clashes broke out in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in New York City, where agitators chanted, "Zionists go to hell."
Fox News' Kitty Le Claire contributed to this report.
