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Chaos erupted in Washington Square Park in Manhattan as a vigil mourning the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei descended into violence Friday, with video capturing a man being pummeled to the ground while attempting to tear down a poster of the late Iranian leader.
Video showed a man attempting to pull down a poster of the dictator — killed last week in an Israeli airstrike — when a man wearing a SpongeBob sweatshirt punched him in the face, sending him to the ground.
Others began fighting, prompting New York City Police Department (NYPD) intervention.
As the brawl unfolded, the crowd could be heard shouting profanity.
A memorial table in New York City for Khamenei, who is accused of killing thousands of Iranians. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Digital)
Multiple people were captured on video being detained by police.
The vigil featured a makeshift memorial table covered with Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, candles and photos of Khamenei, with an observer describing the scene as the “People’s Republic of New York.”
Meanwhile, nearby counter-protesters waved Iranian, American and Israeli flags while chanting “U.S.A.”
Khomeni supporters waved a large flag donning his portrait. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Digital)
In a flyer announcing the event, organizers called Khamenei’s death an “assassination by U.S. government forces.”
Saturday’s downtown Tehran strike that killed Khamenei and other regime leaders was carried out by the Israeli military.
U.S. officials have denied any involvement.
“Throughout his life, Khamenei defended the dignity of the Iranian people and stood firmly against zionism [sic] and the criminal American regime,” organizers wrote on the flyer. “Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 overthrew the U.S.-backed puppet government, the Iranian people have resisted Western domination and the exploitation of their land, labor, and resources.
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“In that time, Iran severed all ties with the zionist [sic] regime and was the first country to host a Palestinian embassy on its soil, all while materially supporting Palestinian resistance and national liberation movements across the world.”
Among Khamenei’s supporters were a group of counter-protesters who slammed the vigil while holding American flags and pre-1979 Islamic Revolution Iranian Lion and Sun flags.
“We’re here to show everyone that Iranians don’t like the regime,” a man at the vigil told contributor Nicole Parker on “Hannity.”
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Protesters and counter-protesters gathered inside Washington Square Park in New York, New York, on Friday afternoon. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Digital)
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“My family is in Iran, but all of them are fighting against the regime,” another woman told Parker. “They’re happy about this, they want this war — this war is not about [the] Iranian people, this war is against the Islamic Republic.”
Digital’s Azziana Solomon contributed to this report.
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