Hunter Schafer Was Arrested For Protesting While Joe Biden Appeared On "Seth Meyers"
Hunter Schafer was reportedly arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest Monday.
Schafer's work as an activist predates her work as an actor, as her family protested North Carolina's now-repealed HB 2, or Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act — which effectively banned transgender people from school and state bathrooms — when she was still a teenager.
Monday's protest was with Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish anti-Zionist organization that advocates for a ceasefire in Gaza and "solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle." It was held in the lobby of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, as that was when President Joe Biden was appearing on NBC's Late Night With Seth Meyers. The group wrote on Instagram, "Biden’s deadly foreign policy has funded and fueled genocide in Gaza."
Photos and videos from the event show Schafer wearing a "Ceasefire Now" shirt and holding a banner that read, "The whole world is watching."
A spokesperson for Jewish Voice for Peace confirmed to BuzzFeed that Schafer was in attendance, adding, "Hunter was arrested at the protest, along with 50 other people. We commend her commitment to Palestinian freedom and to a future of justice for everyone."
A spokesperson for the NYPD told Deadline, “On Monday, February 26, 2024, at approximately 1630 hours, there was a demonstration at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, in the confines of the Midtown North Precinct. The demonstration concluded at 1800 hours. A total of 30 individuals were taken into custody. Thirty individuals were issued summonses for Trespass.”
People subsequently praised Schafer for her advocacy, especially in comparison with other celebrities of similar influence:
hunter schafer, a trans woman, put herself at the front of a pro-palestine protest to aid a free palestine and got herself ARRESTEDand yet some people think boycotting is “too hard” for them. it’s not hard! you’re just comfortable living in your own ignorance! 🍉
— aimsey two (@aimseytwo) February 28, 2024
hunter schafer is out here getting arrested for protesting for a free palestine while celebrities with far bigger platforms and followings and far less to lose can’t even get themselves to say “ceasefire now.” fucking pathetic
— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) February 28, 2024
the fact that hunter schafer has more courage and conviction than her "a list" peers... phew. we love you hunter 🩷
— 🍉 (@filmsdaenerys) February 28, 2024
hunter schafer getting arrested for being part of a protest calling for a ceasefire while so many ppl in her industry get to keep their job after actively supporting israel’s attack on palestine is genuinely insane. like that is so fucking insane!!
— mrs. riotusa 🍉 (@wtfisaglizzy) February 28, 2024
The death toll in Gaza is estimated to have surpassed 30,000 people since October, with Israel planning to invade Rafah — an area of Gaza previously designated by Israel as a "safe space." The majority of Rafah's current estimated 1.5 million inhabitants have been displaced by violence, and at least 600,000 of them are children.
Women and children make up an estimated two-thirds of those killed.
Despite the fact that the US has given Israel over $130 billion in military aid over the years — and most of Israel's weapons imports come from the US — Biden has been hesitant to call for a ceasefire, with the US repeatedly vetoing a draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
When asked by Meyers during his interview about "the path forward" for Gaza, Biden replied that all hostages had to be released and that Israel had claimed it wouldn't attack during Ramadan to aid the release of hostages, adding, "The bottom line is, the only way Israel ultimately survives — I make no bones about it, I get criticized for having said a long time ago, 'You need not be a Jew to be a Zionist.' I'm a Zionist."
"But here's the deal: They also have to take advantage of an opportunity to have peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, who are being used as pawns by Hamas," he continued, citing a hoped-for "temporary" ceasefire. "Israel has had the overwhelming support of the vast majority of nations. If it keeps this up with this incredibly conservative government they have ... they’re going to lose support from around the world.”
New polling information suggests that only "31% of US adults approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict," and half of adults think that Israel has “gone too far."
BuzzFeed has reached out to representatives for Schafer for comment.
