Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested trying to block Black Friday sales at NYC Apple Store

Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on Nov 28, 2025

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NEW YORK — Cops arrested four protesters who tried to block the entrance of the Midtown Apple Store during a Black Friday sale, police said.

A coalition of about 70 protesters, including pro-Palestinian demonstrators, holding signs reading, “Think before you buy” and “Israel is killing children,” and waving Palestinian flags, stopped outside the Apple Store on Fifth Ave. at E. 59th St. across from Central Park, where salespersons were offering Apple gift cards of up to $250 for each purchase as part of a Black Friday promotion.

More than a dozen cops were on hand to quickly handcuff protesters who refused to move from the scene or fought back against the officers.

Four protesters were handcuffed and detained. Charges were not immediately filed, an NYPD spokesman said.

The protesters claimed the tech giant benefits from exploitative cobalt mining in the Congo, and also slammed Apple’s ties to ICE and President Donald Trump.

The protesters continued south along Fifth Ave. after the arrests, cops said.

The Black Friday demonstration occurred not far from the Park East Synagogue on E. 67th St., where pro-Palestinian protesters on Nov. 19 held a tumultuous rally at which participants screamed “Intifada!” “Death to the IDF!” and “Resistance! Take another settler out!” as members of Nefesh B’Nefesh — an organization that assists Jewish immigration to Israel from the U.S. and Canada — were holding a program inside.

Pro-Israel advocates and Jewish leaders blasted the protest as antisemitic, and Gov. Kathy Hochul called it “a blatant attack on the Jewish community.”

On Saturday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited the synagogue and apologized to the congregation, saying that her officers should have set up a frozen zone outside the entrance, which would have pushed the protesters further back.

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