Tempers Flare At Protest Outside NJ Synagogue, 6 People Arrested

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Livingston police arrested six people after a protest outside a local synagogue on Tuesday evening, authorities said.

Nearly 100 pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered near Suburban Torah on West Mount Pleasant Avenue to protest an appearance from former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was scheduled to speak.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Gallant and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year, along with Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes in the Gaza conflict. Israel has contested the warrants.

Video footage of the protest in Livingston shows demonstrators carrying signs that read “Gallant is guilty of genocide” and “Israel F*** Off Nobody Likes You.” Another sign read: “Jews worldwide demand: Stop the genocide, Lift the siege, End the whole occupation.” Some people chanted slogans that included “From the river to the sea,” and “Globalize the intifada.”

Other demonstrators tied an effigy of Gallant to a tree – clad in an orange prison jumpsuit and splattered with red paint – with a sign reading “War Criminal” above its head.

Law enforcement agencies responding to the scene included the Livingston Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, and multiple local police departments from Essex and Morris county.

Police can be seen on video blocking the roadway and forming a line between the protesters and the synagogue. Tempers flare among the demonstrators at one point after police move them out of the road, with an officer yelling at them to “Clear the street!”

“You’re a f****** piece of s***!” a protester yells back.

Some reports said that demonstrators obstructed entrance routes to the synagogue, prompting action from police. Video footage shows several people being arrested and taken into custody.

Livingston police said six people were arrested:

• A 20-year-old male from Princeton was arrested for disorderly conduct, aggravated assault and resisting arrest. He was transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark on a warrant.
• A 21-year-old male from Croton-on-Hudson, NY, was arrested for unlawful possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, aggravated assault, and disorderly conduct. He was released on a summons.
• An unidentified male was arrested and charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault and resisting arrest. He will be transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility on a warrant.
• A 25-year-old female from Trenton was arrested for disorderly conduct and released on a summons.
• A 23-year-old female form New Brunswick was arrested for disorderly conduct and released on a summons.
• A 20-year-old male from Princeton was arrested for disorderly conduct and released on a summons.

The Newark-based CAIR-New Jersey, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, issued a statement about the arrests, calling on people to “oppose Gallant’s presence” in the Garden State and refrain from attending any event featuring him.

“Providing a public platform to a figure indicted for war crimes sends a dangerous message that Palestinian lives are disposable and that accountability does not matter,” said the group’s executive director, Selaedin Maksut.

“We call on local institutions, venues and public officials to reflect on what values they uphold when they extend such invitations,” Maksut added.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE PROTESTS

This week’s protest in Livingston comes just weeks after federal prosecutors filed a civil complaint against several pro-Palestine demonstrators who clashed with members of a synagogue in nearby West Orange.

Demonstrators said they were protesting a real estate seminar about buying property in Jerusalem, which they claimed is “stolen land.” Prosecutors have characterized the gathering as an “Israel real estate fair and ‘Ruach’ (spiritual) event.”

The politically linked chaos erupted in November 2024, and has since spawned claims of bias from both sides.

The Justice Department is accusing the protesters of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act), a federal law passed during the Clinton administration in 1994.

Among other things, the law prohibits “intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere, any person by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”

• See Related: Feds Accuse NJ Protesters Of Instigating Clash Outside Synagogue

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