March 7, 2026

Washington Square Park is located in lower Manhattan, just a two-minute subway ride from Ground Zero, and it’s seen many a protest over its 199-year history: Abolitionist Protests in the 1800s, antiwar gatherings in the ’60s, BLM demonstrations in the 2020s, and many more.

Twenty-four years ago, you could smell the smoke and death from the Twin Towers’ collapse on 9/11.

Washington Square Park, a historic protest hub in lower Manhattan, recently became the site of chaotic violence during a vigil for the recently killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike. What began as a somber gathering supporting the long-oppressive Iranian regime quickly erupted when tensions flared, culminating in a man being punched while trying to pull down a poster of Khamenei, underscoring the deep divisions and volatility surrounding the event just miles from Ground Zero.

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