Chelsea Manning, Actor Hari Nef Among 90 Arrested in NYC as Anti-War Protesters Target Schumer Over Israel Arms Sales

Roughly ninety people were arrested Monday outside the Manhattan offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand during a demonstration organized by anti-war groups demanding an immediate halt to U.S. arms sales to Israel, with transgender activist and former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and actress and model Hari Nef among those taken into custody by New York City police. The protest, which drew several hundred demonstrators and targeted the senators specifically for their continued support of military aid to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza, was one of the largest civil disobedience actions in New York City since the Iran war began absorbing much of Washington's attention in recent months.

Manning, who served seven years in military prison before her sentence was commuted by President Obama in 2017, has become a fixture at demonstrations connecting U.S. military policy overseas to domestic political accountability. Nef, known for roles in the television series Transparent and the film Barbie, has been increasingly visible in anti-war organizing circles and joined the action after publicly calling on her social media followers to attend. Both were processed and released within hours; neither immediately faced any charges beyond a violation-level offense.

Organizers said the action was specifically timed to coincide with the Senate's return from recess and the renewed debate over war powers legislation targeting the Iran conflict. "The same senators who won't stop the Iran war are the ones still shipping weapons into Gaza," said a spokeswoman for one of the organizing groups. "We want them to feel pressure from two directions at once." The demonstrations included a sit-in in the building lobby and a blockade of the sidewalk that lasted roughly four hours before police made the arrests.

Schumer's office issued a statement condemning the disruption and defending both his Iran war stance and his record on Israel policy. Gillibrand's office did not immediately respond. The arrests come amid growing frustration in progressive circles that both parties have moved further away from imposing any conditions on military aid to Israel even as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated sharply in recent months. The American Civil Liberties Union said it was monitoring the arrests and would offer legal support to demonstrators who requested it.

The dual focus of the protesters — linking the Iran war to the Gaza conflict — reflects a strategic calculation by anti-war organizers that the two conflicts are increasingly intertwined in public consciousness, both in terms of the human toll and the political costs being paid by elected officials who have supported military action in both cases. Polls show public support for the Iran war has declined significantly since the first weeks of the conflict, and anti-war activists believe that opposition to the ongoing Gaza campaign can now be channeled into a broader coalition against American military intervention in the region.