The pro-Palestine protester who went viral earlier this month for demanding that “Zionists” identify themselves on a crowded subway car made another scene Wednesday, with a little help from his comrades.
Anas Saleh of Staten Island turned himself in at the NYPD Transit District 2 headquarters after being charged with coercion for the viral antisemitic incident. But when reporters tried to get photos of him leaving the headquarters, a group of Saleh’s buddies tried to shield him from this unwanted attention — and got into a shoving match with journalists trying to do their constitutionally protected job.
Police had been looking for Saleh since June 10, when he allegedly told commuters on a train stopped at Union Square, “Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist. Repeat after me; this is your chance to get out.”
The video of the incident went viral and had police officials and Mayor Eric Adams condemning what they deemed an act of hatred.
A week after cops released a new image of Saleh, who works as a research technician at Weill Cornell Medicine, he turned himself in on June 26. Saleh was issued a desk appearance ticket for coercion.
Although he managed to get plenty of attention for his June 10 train stunt, Saleh didn’t seem to want the attention of the press on Wednesday.
Coordinating with fellow mask-wearing protesters, Saleh exited Transit District 2 headquarters shielded by several of his buddies, who leapt in front of press cameras and ran interference for him.
Waving keffiyeh scarves and umbrellas, they desperately tried to hide Saleh — going as far as to try and smack the cameras out of the journalists’ hands.
Saleh ducked and high-tailed it out of the station. One umbrella-wielding protester slammed a photographer into the wall in the process. The cadre of cronies quickly blocked the staircase and refused to allow reporters or anyone else to pass.
No injuries were reported, and no additional arrests were made.
Wednesday’s incident did not seem to win Saleh much sympathy from people on social media, after video of the perp-walk-that-wasn’t went live on X (formerly Twitter)
“They failed hard while looking like children,” one commenter wrote on X in response to a video of the incident.
“What a coward,” another wrote.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA’s office stated that they are continuing to look into the June 10 incident involving Saleh.
“The Manhattan DA’s office and NYPD have been actively investigating this incident since it occurred. We encourage anyone with additional information to call 212-335-9040,” a spokesperson for the Manhattan DA’s office said.
