Met Gala: Several arrested in protests outside fashion event

Several people were arrested Monday evening during a Black Lives Matter protest outside the Met Gala in New York City. As the high fashion event took place inside New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, some protestors clashed with police officers in the street in front of the building.

In videos shared online, some protesters can be seen being arrested while officers can be heard telling the crowd they are being placed under arrest for disorderly conduct, FOX News reported. The demonstrators, who were chanting “Black Lives Matter,” were among a protest organized by an “autonomous group of NYC abolitionists who believe that policing does not protect and serve communities”, according to the Daily Mail.

“The NYPD has a total financial allocation of $11bn per year. This money goes towards racist policing that destroys Black and brown communities while people who are struggling do not get the resources they need. CARE, not COPS, is the answer,” a flyer from the protest cited by the Daily Mail read.

Other protesters were seen in videos chanting the name of Mike Rosado, a Bronx man who was killed in a shootout with police last month. “If we don’t get no justice, then they don’t get no peace,” others said.

The protests on Monday began peacefully until around 6 pm ET when officers started arresting people who refused to heed the warnings to leave the streets. The police had to put up a barricade to hold off the demonstrators. It is unclear how many people were arrested though most of the arrests were for minor offenses, according to the New York Times.

Monday’s demonstration took place as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio attended the Met Gala, one of fashion’s biggest events. The Gala, which was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, is held to raise funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, with celebrities shining bright on the red carpet.

The event was co-hosted by pop star Billie Eilish, tennis icon Naomi Osaka, actor Timothée Chalamet and poet Amanda Gorman.

Mayor de Blasio was not the only politician at the event as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. was present in a white gown with “Tax the Rich” in red letter.