Anti-Israel protesters who wave flags linked to terror groups could be jailed if NY law passes
Anti-Israel protesters who wave flags of terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah could face jail time in New York should lawmakers pass a proposed bill.
The office of New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who is a Democrat, confirmed to Fox News that the lawmaker is introducing the bill, known as the Stand Against Flags of Enemy Terrorists Act.
The proposed bill, which the New York Post first reported on, would expand the definition of aggravated harassment in the first degree to include cases where someone displays a symbol of a foreign terrorist organization with the intent to harass, annoy or threaten another person.
Those found guilty could face up to four years in jail.
Hoylman-Sigal is introducing the bill along with New York Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who is also a Democrat.
New York City Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola, a Republican, told "Fox & Friends First" that she hopes the fact that two Democrats are introducing the bill will help persuade liberal lawmakers to vote for the bill.
"We've already criminalized burning crosses, swastikas and nooses," Ariola said. "Why not this new wave of how to threaten and terrorize people of a certain religion or ethnicity?"
Ariola said that while groups like the American Civil Liberties Union may challenge the proposed bill on free speech grounds, the flags of terrorist organizations "are messages of hate."
Anti-Israel protests have popped up throughout the U.S. amid Israel's war in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks, which killed around 1,200 people.
Last month, anti-Israel protesters were arrested at New York City's Barnard College after agitators took over a building on campus. A week earlier, violent clashes broke out in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in New York City, where agitators chanted, "Zionists go to hell."
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