Three women were arrested early Monday after partially unfurling a banner that said “VOTE” off the side of the Manhattan Bridge.
The women were part of a larger group on the bridge’s bike path around 6:15 a.m. when officers spotted them with the banner and ropes, an NYPD spokesman said.
As the cops approached, the women began to unfurl the banner but were stopped and taken into custody before the entire sign could be dropped, according to the spokesman.
The artist activist group Flo Kennedy Society has taken responsibility for the banner unfurling, which comes one day before the midterm elections. The group urged people to vote in a statement released on Monday afternoon.
“During the past two years, our communities have been attacked from every angle. From the mainstreaming of hate to the lies and destructive policies of a disturbed, amoral administration, our nation has been victimized by the steady degradation of all we hold dear as a country,” the group said, referencing President Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric. “We know you are exhausted. We know you feel defeated. But we implore you: give your last ounce of energy in service to your nation and show up at the polls this Tuesday.”
Vanessa Wruble, executive director of the women-led political activist nonprofit March On, said the group reached out to her on Monday with a message of solidarity in trying to get people to vote.
“I am glad, though not surprised, that the activists involved reached out to me. March On and the Flo Kennedy Society are doing the same important work, just in different ways,” Wruble said in an emailed statement. “We regret that women were arrested, and sincerely hope no charges will be pressed."
The unidentified women, who range in age from 23 to 37 years old, were processed at the Fifth Precinct and given criminal court summonses for unlawful posting without a permit, the NYPD spokesman said.
