NYC Washington Sq. Park vigil for Ayatollah Khamenei turns violent

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Chaos erupted in Washington Sq. Park in Manhattan as a vigil mourning the dying of Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei descended into violence Friday, with video capturing a person being pummeled to the bottom whereas making an attempt to tear down a poster of the late Iranian chief.

Video confirmed a person making an attempt to drag down a poster of the dictator — killed final week in an Israeli airstrike — when a person sporting a SpongeBob sweatshirt punched him within the face, sending him to the bottom.

Others started combating, prompting New York Metropolis Police Division ( NYPD ) intervention.

Because the brawl unfolded, the group could possibly be heard shouting profanity.

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/672/378/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-006.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/1344/756/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-006.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/931/523/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-006.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/1862/1046/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-006.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> A memorial desk in New York Metropolis for Khamenei, who's accused of killing 1000's of Iranians. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox Information Digital)

A number of folks have been captured on video being detained by police.

The vigil featured a makeshift memorial desk lined with Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, candles and photographs of Khamenei, with an observer describing the scene because the "Individuals’s Republic of New York."

In the meantime, close by counter-protesters waved Iranian, American and Israeli flags whereas chanting "U.S.A."

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/672/378/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-008.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/1344/756/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-008.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/931/523/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-008.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/1862/1046/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-008.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Khomeni supporters waved a big flag donning his portrait. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox Information Digital)

In a flyer saying the occasion, organizers known as Khamenei's dying an "assassination by U.S. authorities forces."

Saturday's downtown Tehran strike that killed Khamenei and different regime leaders was carried out by the Israeli army.

U.S. officers have denied any involvement.

"All through his life, Khamenei defended the dignity of the Iranian folks and stood firmly in opposition to zionism [sic] and the prison American regime," organizers wrote on the flyer. "Because the Islamic Revolution in 1979 overthrew the U.S.-backed puppet authorities, the Iranian folks have resisted Western domination and the exploitation of their land, labor, and sources.

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"In that point, Iran severed all ties with the zionist [sic] regime and was the primary nation to host a Palestinian embassy on its soil, all whereas materially supporting Palestinian resistance and nationwide liberation actions internationally."

Amongst Khamenei's supporters have been a bunch of counter-protesters who slammed the vigil whereas holding American flags and pre-1979 Islamic Revolution Iranian Lion and Solar flags.

"We're right here to point out everybody that Iranians do not just like the regime," a person on the vigil informed Fox Information contributor Nicole Parker on " Hannity ."

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<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/672/378/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-002.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/1344/756/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-002.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/931/523/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-002.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/03/1862/1046/protest-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-vigil-nyc-fox-news-002.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Protesters and counter-protesters gathered inside Washington Sq. Park in New York, New York, on Friday afternoon. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox Information Digital)

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"My household is in Iran, however all of them are combating in opposition to the regime," one other lady informed Parker. "They're completely satisfied about this, they need this warfare — this warfare is just not about [the] Iranian folks, this warfare is in opposition to the Islamic Republic."

Fox Information Digital's Azziana Solomon contributed to this report.

Associated Article Alexandra Koch is a Fox Information Digital journalist who covers breaking information, with a deal with high-impact occasions that form nationwide dialog.

She has lined main nationwide crises, together with the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror assault, and Texas Hill Nation floods.