Tens of thousands of New Yorkers turned out under sunny skies for an alternative pride event Sunday afternoon, called the Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality. The march began in Foley Square in the early afternoon and ended in Washington Square Park several hours later, where largely without provocation, the NYPD pushed and pepper-sprayed revelers dancing in the street, arresting several people, and others injured.

Occurring 50 years to the day after NYC’s first gay pride march, and 51 years after the Stonewall uprising, those involved in planning the march said they wanted to lift up the histories and voices that had been largely erased from the better-known Pride March that usually occurs the last weekend in June—including the long legacy of police violence against the Black trans women of color and other members of the LGBT community.

"I wish that I could say what I saw today was shocking, but how could I reasonably expect anything else from the NYPD?” said Jake Tolan, one of the march organizers in a statement after the event. "51 years after the Stonewall Rebellion, the NYPD is still responding to peaceful, powerful, righteous queer joy with pepper spray, batons, and handcuffs. Thank you, Commissioner Shea and the entire NYPD, for continuing to show us why you should be abolished.”

The event began in Foley Square, where thousands of New Yorkers—organizers say 50,000 participated in Sunday’s event—gathered under sunny skies wearing shirts that said “Black Trans Lives Matter” and carrying signs against police violence. One group carried giant puppets depicting present and past heroes of the LGBT community, including Bayard Rustin, Sylvia Rivera and Laverne Cox.

Xavier Smith, of Bushwick, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing”—the Negro National Anthem—to the crowd right before everyone set off.

As the sun grew hotter, the march wound up Church Street towards the West Village. People chanted the names of Black trans people who have died at the hands of law enforcement, including Layleen Polanco, a transgender woman who died in solitary confinement on Rikers Island in June 2019, and Tony McDade, a Black trans man who was shot and killed by Tallahassee police in May. Also present at the event was Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir, a street theater and performance group. Several times throughout the march, the crowd kneeled alongside choir members, who were dressed in all black and carried an effigy of Black gay liberation activist Marsha P. Johnson.

The march was the second event organized by the Reclaim Pride Coalition, founded to create an alternative to the annual Pride celebration hosted in the city each year. In a phone interview, activist Jay Walker told Gothamist that the annual NYC Pride March—which is organized by the non-profit organization Heritage of Pride—has strayed too far from Pride’s original purpose as a protest against police violence, by allowing banks and other corporations to sponsor and participate in the event and by coordinating the parade with the NYPD. The Coalition was “giving a new template to what Pride can be,” said Walker. (Reclaim Pride itself has been criticized by some for having a predominately white leadership. “Voices of people of color, including my own as a Black man, have always been part of this coalition’s work,” Walker said in response.)

After marching through the West Village and past Stonewall, the event ended in Washington Square Park. At a rally organized by the organization Black Trans Media, 14 Black trans and queer speakers addressed the crowd, some of whom told the white and cis people present that just attending the march wasn’t enough.

“This is an invitation to get it right,” said activist and healer Nala Simone Touissant. “If you believe in Pride, you will center your body, spirit, mouth...feet—whatever it is that you have to do.”

As the rally was ongoing within Washington Square Park, the incident with the police began unfolding just outside. According to some who witnessed the event, the aggressive conduct started after cops spotted two participants making graffitti. Shortly thereafter, about a dozen officers rushed into the crowd, pushing and shoving participants as they went. A group of protesters formed a barrier around the police, chanting for the cops to let go of the individuals arrested for making graffiti. In an effort to clear the crowd, the cops pepper-sprayed at least 10 people, including a nearby vendor who had nothing to do with the incident, a legal observer later told Gothamist.

The scuffle between the police and protesters continued for about thirty minutes, with protesters attempting to push the police back down Washington Square North, past where the park ends. As the march participants chanted for the police to leave the area, the NYPD appeared to respond by running into the crowd, sometimes using their bodies or batons to shove individuals aside and to the ground. Shortly after the protesters pushed the police line back to 6th Avenue, NYPD officers began to disperse. About five people were arrested and more than a dozen injured, event organizers said.

Michael Dunn, 29, of Brooklyn, was arrested for graffiti, assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, among other charges.

Millen Dang, 20, of Brooklyn and Jacob Kruger, 25, of New Jersey, were arrested for assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, assault, among other charges. Kruger was also accused of having a switchblade knife.

The NYPD has not yet responded to our requests for comment.

Samy Nour Younes Figaredo was present at the march and witnessed some of the police conduct. “Not that the level of violence we saw was warranted, but it's especially not warranted if this is all over two people and some fucking graffiti,” they told Gothamist in an email. “I can't get the image out of my head of cops arriving in huge numbers, on bikes, with riot gear, etc. The protest had been so well-organized and peaceful. It's hard not to think they weren't deliberately looking for an excuse to swoop in, and they found one.”

As the police left the vicinity of the park, the rally continued. Once all the speakers had shared their words, participants danced in the park and in nearby streets, continuing even when heavy thunderstorms passed through the area.

“This is one of the best things about Pride,” said Black Trans Media founder Sasha Alexander. “No barricades, no cops, and keeping Black trans people safe.” After the, “we turned up the speakers with Black queer and trans youth until it rained, then we kept dancing in the rain until a rainbow came out.”

“We were just protecting each other,” said Alexander, “and we felt protected by the work we were doing.”

[UPDATE] After this story was published, NYPD spokesperson Sergeant Mary Frances O'Donnell issued a statement claiming that the department had made "tremendous strides to improve and redefine our relationship with the LBGTQ communities."

The statement claims that "Officers had just taken a man into custody for vandalizing an NYPD vehicle when a group attempted to overpower the two escorting officers and remove the male from police custody. The officers requested back up to extricate both themselves and the individual arrested. Over the next few minutes, several of our officers who responded to the call for assistance were assaulted and had department property removed from their persons. This conduct is illegal and unacceptable."

O'Donnell added, "We will evaluate yesterday’s response as part of our after action review."

With reporting from Alec Hamilton.