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Police have arrested a protester accused of jumping a barricade at the Met Gala, the latest in a string of high-profile demonstrations against the event.
Activists have protested the fact that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez are acting as sponsors and honorary chairs of the gala, arguing the billionaire tech executive exploits his workers.
The NYPD told The Independent a “disorderly male” jumped the barricade in front of East 82nd Street and 5th Avenue, which is just outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“A 37-year-old male was taken into custody and charges are pending at this time,” a police spokesperson said.
Observers claimed the man being arrested was labor activist Chris Smalls, 37. In 2022, at a New York City warehouse, Smalls helped lead the historic campaign for the first recognized union inside an Amazon facility. The NYPD would not confirm the person arrested was Smalls.
open image in gallery A protester was arrested for allegedly trying to hop the barricades into the Met Gala ( Reuters )
Video of the encounter shows a large group of police officers wrestling a man to the ground and throwing what appears to be a black placard off to the side.
The Independent has contacted Smalls, the Amazon Labor Union, Amazon and a representative of Bezos for comment.
A Reuters news photographer captured a man who resembled Smalls being arrested outside the event.
In the photo, the man carried a black protest sign with the same message as a sign Smalls posted on his Instagram earlier Monday.
The sign claimed that Amazon “refuses to negotiate a contract with its union” and alleged Amazon “invests in genocide” in Israel.
open image in gallery Unconfirmed reports claim Amazon labor union founder Chris Smalls was the protester who was arrested. The NYPD would not confirm the name of the person arrested at the event ( Reuters )
Protesters have been active throughout the city in the days leading up to the Met Gala.
Over the weekend, activists projected videos onto buildings around New York City, including Bezos’s apartment near Madison Square Park.
One of the projections featured an image of Bezos laughing and the slogan “If You Can Buy the Met Gala, You Can Pay More Taxes.” That follows a ProPublica report which alleged that over multiple years, Bezos did not pay any federal income tax.
Everyone Hates Elon, a British political group, left hundreds of bottles of urine inside the Met, a reference to claims from Amazon employees that they often worked so hard they didn’t have time for bathroom breaks.
Protesters also held signs outside the event itself with slogans including “tax the rich” and “with billionaires in charge, POTUS is a pedophile, rapist and traitor.”
Bezos did not join the stars walking up the gala’s famous steps, though Sánchez did make an appearance.
Prior to the Met Gala, Smalls was asked if he would attend the event if he was invited.
open image in gallery Protesters against Bezos have shadowed the Met Gala for days ( Getty/Everyone Hates Elon )
“Yes , I’m going,” he said. “It’s been four years since we unionized and they refused to negotiate a contract with our union, which is 30 minutes away.”
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board ordered Amazon to recognize and bargain with the Amazon union, after years of legal battles.
The company has alleged the union’s original certification was invalid, and that the union and the NLRB improperly influenced the election.
Smalls was previously held in detention in Israel last year, after taking part in a humanitarian flotilla to deliver supplies to Gaza.
Critics of Amazon argue the company is complicit in the Israeli government’s mass killing of Palestinians because of a cloud contract the company has with the Israeli government that includes multiple security agencies.