Yahoo News Cops raise the Stars and Stripes, toss away Palestinian flag in iconic moment after quelling City College pro-terror protest
Dramatic video shows the triumphant moment NYPD officials raised an American flag that anti-Israel “agitators” had replaced with a Palestinian one at a City College of New York campus after cops swooped in and arrested hundreds of protesters there.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry and Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard were filmed standing on the flagpole’s base at the school’s Harlem Heights campus then pulling down the Palestinian flag late Tuesday.
A man — possibly a school security guard — then tosses the four-colored flag to the ground before cops re-raise Old Glory in an impromptu ceremony, the footage shows.
But by Wednesday afternoon, the campus flagpole had been stripped bare outside of a brick building at 201 Convent Avenue in Harlem.
Earlier in the day, Mayor Eric Adams cheered the flag-raising as a patriotic symbol that New Yorkers “are not surrendering” their way of life.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest on anti-Israel protests on campuses across the US
“That’s our flag, folks. Who would take over our buildings and put another flag up? It may be fine to other people but not to me,” Adams said at a press conference Wednesday.
“My uncle died defending this country. These men and women put their lives on the line. It’s despicable that schools will allow another country’s flag to fly in our country,” he added.
“So blame me for being proud to be an American. And I thank Commissioner Daughtry for putting our flag back up. We are not surrendering our way of life to anyone.”
Daughtry said the flag raising came after police spotted “desecrated” American flags on campuses around the city.
“An incredible scene and proud moment as we have assisted @CityCollegeNY in restoring order on campus, culminating in raising Old Glory once again on their campus flagpole,” Daughtry wrote on X.
“Agitators illegally removed an American flag from a flagpole, discarded it, and chose to hang their own flag. While we were going through the campuses, we saw many American flags torn, burned and desecrated,” he later tweeted.
The Palestinian flag had been flying at CCNY since protesters raised it last week when they set up an encampment at the public institution.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the pro-terror protests at colleges across the US:
On Tuesday night, “Intifada”-boosting anti-Israel protesters violently clashed with police at the City College site.
The school didn’t immediately return a call from The Post Wednesday.
The pro-Palestinian protesters, many from a group who traveled across Manhattan to protest at different colleges in the city, threw flares at cops and barricaded themselves inside an administrative building.
City College was holding all of its classes remotely until further notice.
