Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets of Manhattan on Thursday, crowding the lobby of The New York Times building during a demonstration that left two NYPD cruisers parked outside vandalized with the words "FREE GAZA."
Demonstrators staged a sit-in inside the New York Times' building as they called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and handed out mock newspapers called "The New York War Crimes," according to the Associated Press.
The faux newspapers accused the media of "complicity in laundering genocide" and the protesters demanded that the Times' editorial board publicly back a ceasefire, according to the news outlet.
New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha told Insider in a statement on Friday that the Times "has extensively covered the Israel-Hamas war with fairness, impartiality, and an abiding understanding of the complexities of the conflict."
"We fully support this group's right to express their point of view, even as we disagree with their characterization of our coverage," Rhoades Ha said.
During the demonstration in and around the 8th Avenue building, two NYPD cop cars were vandalized. Police sources said "FREE GAZA" was spray-painted onto both vehicles.
An NYPD spokesperson told Insider that the cop car vandalism was under investigation and that no arrests had been made in connection to the incident.
