Multiple brawls break out at Washington Square Park during Pride celebration: video
Multiple brawls and wild chaos engulfed Washington Square Park in the aftermath of New York City’s Pride Parade Sunday as police battled to control the unruly mob of revelers, shocking footage shows.
Video from the jaw-dropping scene showed fistfights and hair-pulling as several troublemakers turned the crowded park into their own personal boxing ring while herds of onlookers watched with glee and even whipped out their phones to record the showdowns in Lower Manhattan.
At one point, two young men threw haymakers at each other before one took a tumble to the ground. Seconds later, two women briefly took swings at each other while a couple bystanders attempted to break up that kerfuffle, a clip shows.
In another instance of violence, one woman, who appeared to be bleeding from her face with dried blood on her white shirt, went head-to-head with a peer as the crowd loudly cheered, according to footage.
Other spats of savagery included one woman pushing another off the edge of the park’s iconic water fountain while another brawler yanked a woman in a pink shirt to the ground by her hair. The young woman in pink continued to be dragged by her counterpart before others finally jumped in to help.
When there wasn’t violence, there was plenty of R-rated antics, including multiple women twerking on a white vehicle and one person grinding up against a light pole he climbed to the top, according to clips.
Another video shows police officers attempting to get a handle on the out of control crowd by putting up barricades around the park as some rabble rousers rushed toward it.
As night fell, the NYPD played a loudspeaker recording announcing Washington Square Park’s closure and ordering people to leave — leading to arguments between cops and park-goers.
It was not immediately clear if any arrests took place as a result of the fighting.
Before the rowdy conduct, New York City celebrated its 54th Pride Parade as thousands of revelers took part in the celebration of LGBTQ rights in Greenwich Village.
During the festivities, anti-Israel protesters temporarily blocked the march before they were hauled off by cops near the historic Stonewall Inn, considered the birthplace of the gay rights movement.
Police arrested 22 people during the protest — 16 of whom were given desk appearance tickets and released while the other six remained in custody Sunday night.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona.
