US marks anniversary of Oct 7 attacks amid protests

By BELINDA ROBINSON in New York | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2024-10-08 14:23 Pro-Palestinian supporters hold a candlelight vigil on the first anniversary of the attack by Hamas on Israel in Dearborn, Michigan, US, October 7, 2024. Thousands of Pro-Palestinian protesters including students from Columbia University and City University of New York and more than a dozen other New York universities walked out of class to march through the streets on Monday, the first anniversary of the Palestine-Israel conflict, started by the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. Interim Columbia University President Katrina Armstrong announced that heightened campus security and building restrictions would be in effect through Wednesday to prevent the "risk of violence to any member of our community". In New York City, home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, the New York Police Department stepped up patrols and security measures. A picture of one of the signs held outside Weiner’s house read: "Abolish NYPD Counter terrorism," an Instagram post by Unityoffields showed.