9 Arrested In Protests Outside Met Gala, Police Say

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — While many eyes were on the outlandish outfits sported by celebrities at Monday evening's Met Gala, intense protests against police brutality resulted in at least nine arrests outside the museum, police said.

The protests, which began Monday afternoon in Lower Manhattan, moved uptown by around 6 p.m. Protesters' demands included defunding and eventually abolishing the NYPD, as well as ending the relocations of homeless people from hotels into shelters.

Video recorded by independent reporters at the scene showed protesters dismantling the barricades that police had set up outside the Fifth Avenue museum. Police then moved in on the protesters, pushing them further from the museum, before tackling and arresting several on the street, videos show.

The nine people were taken into custody near Fifth Avenue and East 81st Street, according to an NYPD spokesperson, who did not say whether any were charged with a crime.

Some of the arrestees were reportedly taken to Harlem's 28th Precinct Monday night, though some were later released.

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