NYC leftists hold vigil for slain Ayatollah Khamenei and punches fly

A bloody fight broke out Friday afternoon during a New York City vigil for the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Saturday in an Israeli military strike in downtown Tehran. 

Chaos erupted in Washington Square Park in Manhattan as a vigil mourning the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei descended into violence Friday. Video showed a man trying to pull down a poster of the dictator, killed last week in an Israeli airstrike, when a man wearing a SpongeBob sweatshirt punched him in the face, sending him to the ground.

Others jumped in and began fighting, prompting New York City Police Department intervention.As the brawl unfolded, the crowd could be heard shouting profanity.

Multiple people were captured on video being detained by police.

The vigil featured a makeshift memorial table covered with Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, candles and photos of Khamenei. One observer described the scene as the "People’s Republic of New York."

Meanwhile, nearby counter-protesters waved Iranian, American and Israeli flags while chanting "U.S.A."

In a flyer announcing the event, organizers called Khamenei's death an "assassination by U.S. government forces."

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

U.S. officials have denied any involvement.

"Throughout his life, Khamenei defended the dignity of the Iranian people and stood firmly against zionism [sic] and the criminal American regime," organizers wrote on the flyer. "Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 overthrew the U.S.-backed puppet government, the Iranian people have resisted Western domination and the exploitation of their land, labor, and resources.

"In that time, Iran severed all ties with the zionist [sic] regime and was the first country to host a Palestinian embassy on its soil, all while materially supporting Palestinian resistance and national liberation movements across the world."

Among Khamenei's supporters were a group of counter-protesters who slammed the vigil while holding American flags and pre-1979 Islamic Revolution Iranian Lion and Sun flags.

"We're here to show everyone that Iranians don't like the regime," a man at the vigil told Fox News contributor Nicole Parker on Fox News' "Hannity."

"My family is in Iran, but all of them are fighting against the regime," another woman told Parker. "They're happy about this, they want this war - this war is not about [the] Iranian people, this war is against the Islamic Republic."

Look, this is the kind of unhinged scene you'd expect in parts of Manhattan these days. A vigil for a brutal theocratic dictator turns into a street fight complete with SpongeBob-punching action, anti-American chants, and counter-protesters waving Old Glory and the pre-revolution Iranian flag. The regime loyalists are out there mourning their supreme leader like he was some freedom fighter, while actual Iranians show up to say the regime's days are numbered. Classic New York chaos, but with a heavy dose of Middle East politics thrown in. The quotes from the counter-protesters say it all: Iranians want freedom, not this oppressive mess.

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