Overview
- Brad Lander was heckled with antisemitic slurs Saturday after he joined thousands of protesters outside Madison Square Garden where RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat spoke to about 5,000 attendees.
- Video from the scene shows a demonstrator shouting profanity and calling Lander a ‘Zionist,’ and Lander replied and remained at the rally before posting that he was fine and would keep protesting hate.
- Organizers including the Indian American Muslim Council and Hindus for Human Rights condemned the heckling, apologized to Lander, and said the hecklers were not part of the official coalition.
- The episode highlights tensions within the U.S. left over Israel and Gaza that have reshaped recent Democratic primaries and complicates local officials’ responses, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly opposing the RSS event but saying the city could not cancel a private gathering.
- Longer-term disputes spill into this protest because the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has criticized the RSS for roles in violence and intolerance while the RSS denies those charges, leaving activists and voters to contest both protest tactics and the group’s record.