Washington Square Park in Manhattan was the scene of turmoil on Friday evening as a vigil held to commemorate the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spiraled into chaos. Footage from the incident shows a man being knocked to the ground after attempting to dismantle a poster of the late leader.
The video reveals that as the man tried to remove the poster of Khamenei—who was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike the previous week—he was struck in the face by another individual clad in a SpongeBob sweatshirt, resulting in his fall.
The altercation quickly escalated, leading to the intervention of the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
Amidst the commotion, the crowd’s angry shouts filled the air, with voices raised in profane outbursts.
A table set up in New York City to honor Khamenei, who stands accused of overseeing the deaths of countless Iranians, became a focal point of the gathering. (Photo by Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Several individuals were seen being restrained by officers as the situation unfolded.
The vigil featured a makeshift memorial table covered with Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, candles and photos of Khamenei, with an observer describing the scene as the “People’s Republic of New York.”
Meanwhile, nearby counter-protesters waved Iranian, American and Israeli flags while chanting “U.S.A.”
Khomeni supporters waved a large flag donning his portrait. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
In a flyer announcing the event, organizers called Khamenei’s death an “assassination by U.S. government forces.”
Saturday’s downtown Tehran strike that killed Khamenei and other regime leaders was carried out by the Israeli military.
U.S. officials have denied any involvement.
“Throughout his life, Khamenei defended the dignity of the Iranian people and stood firmly against zionism [sic] and the criminal American regime,” organizers wrote on the flyer. “Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 overthrew the U.S.-backed puppet government, the Iranian people have resisted Western domination and the exploitation of their land, labor, and resources.
“In that time, Iran severed all ties with the zionist [sic] regime and was the first country to host a Palestinian embassy on its soil, all while materially supporting Palestinian resistance and national liberation movements across the world.”
Among Khamenei’s supporters were a group of counter-protesters who slammed the vigil while holding American flags and pre-1979 Islamic Revolution Iranian Lion and Sun flags.
“We’re here to show everyone that Iranians don’t like the regime,” a man at the vigil told Fox News contributor Nicole Parker on “Hannity.”
Protesters and counter-protesters gathered inside Washington Square Park in New York, New York, on Friday afternoon. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
“My family is in Iran, but all of them are fighting against the regime,” another woman told Parker. “They’re happy about this, they want this war — this war is not about [the] Iranian people, this war is against the Islamic Republic.”
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