{"id":638648,"date":"2026-03-07T12:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T12:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/638648\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T12:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T12:36:08","slug":"nyc-washington-square-park-vigil-for-ayatollah-khamenei-turns-violent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/638648\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Washington Square Park vigil for Ayatollah Khamenei turns violent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

Chaos erupted in Washington Square Park in Manhattan as a vigil mourning the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Video showed a man attempting to pull down a poster of the dictator \u2014 killed last week in an Israeli airstrike \u2014 when a man wearing a SpongeBob sweatshirt punched him in the face, sending him to the ground.<\/p>\n

Others began fighting, prompting New York City Police Department (NYPD<\/a>) intervention.<\/p>\n

As the brawl unfolded, the crowd could be heard shouting profanity.<\/p>\n

\"Pro-Khamenei <\/p>\n

A memorial table in New York City for Khamenei, who is accused of killing thousands of Iranians. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n

Multiple people were captured on video being detained by police.<\/p>\n

The vigil featured a\u00a0makeshift memorial table covered with Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, candles and photos of\u00a0Khamenei, with an observer describing the scene as the “People\u2019s Republic of New York.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, nearby counter-protesters waved Iranian, American and Israeli flags while chanting “U.S.A.”<\/p>\n

\"Pro-Khamenei <\/p>\n

Khomeni supporters waved a large flag donning his portrait. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n

In a flyer announcing the event, organizers called Khamenei’s death an “assassination by U.S. government forces.”<\/p>\n

Saturday’s downtown Tehran strike<\/a> that killed Khamenei and other regime leaders was carried out by the Israeli military.<\/p>\n

U.S. officials have denied any involvement.<\/p>\n

“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<\/a> and the exploitation of their land, labor, and resources.<\/p>\n

IRANIANS CELEBRATE WORLDWIDE AFTER SUPREME LEADERS ARE KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“We’re here to show everyone that Iranians don’t like the regime,” a man at the vigil told Fox News contributor Nicole Parker on “Hannity<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

TRUMP SAYS IRAN\u2019S SUCCESSION BENCH WIPED OUT AS ISRAELI STRIKE HITS LEADERSHIP DELIBERATIONS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Pro-Khamenei <\/p>\n

Protesters and counter-protesters gathered inside Washington Square Park in New York, New York, on Friday afternoon. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“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 \u2014 this war is not about [the] Iranian people, this war is against the Islamic Republic.”<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital’s Azziana Solomon contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Related Article \"Israel<\/a> <\/p>\n

Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation.<\/p>\n

She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Chaos erupted in Washington Square Park in Manhattan as a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":638649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,76332,67,586,132,5230,68,115606,2969,267066],"class_list":["post-638648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-police-and-law-enforcement","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-protests","tag-usa","tag-war-with-iran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116187928391365015","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}