Biden's NYC visit sparks pro-Palestinian protests in Columbus Circle
Protesters gather in Columbus Circle during President Joe Bidens NYC visit.
NEW YORK - Hundreds of demonstrators flocked to Manhattan's Columbus Circle on Wednesday in response to President Joe Biden's New York City visit.
Organizers encouraged protesters to gather near the 60th Street exit of the Columbus Circle subway station around 1 p.m. to demand a ceasefire in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas War.
"Let Biden know he has got to go for carrying out the genocide in Gaza," organizers from WIthin Our Lifetime posted to Instagram.
Biden trawled to the Big Apple to attend three campaign receptions. While the White House didn't disclose the exact locations, barricades were erected on the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side.
The president is increasingly contending with protests inside and outside his events from progressives upset about U.S. support for Israel in its offensive in Gaza. Demonstrators disrupted Biden's speech at Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina earlier this month as the president spoke out against racism, and they turned up at a United Auto Workers gathering this past week in Washington where Biden accepted the powerful union's endorsement, and at a political event in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday.
More than 26,000 Palestinians, mostly women and minors, have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 more, mostly civilians, in the attack.