Anti-Israel protesters in New York set American flags on fire outside the Israeli consulate

Metro

By Katherine Donlevy

Disturbing images and video captured the moment three masked anti-Israel protesters lit a pair of American flags and an Israeli flag outside the Jewish state's consulate on Wednesday.

American flags were almost invisible under the flames as the Firebirds – one of whom has been the subject of several arrests over the past two months – stood outside the building located on the corner of Second Avenue and East 42nd Street.

A man wearing a keffiyeh and “Gaza” shirt held a burning American flag as he stood on the bike path directly in front of an NYPD booth, whose glass reflected the bright yellow flames.

Another disguised man set fire to an Israeli flag which immediately withered and fell from the flagpole, video shows.

According to the NYPD, one of the three firefighters was arrested.

Jahki Lodgson-McCray, 20, of New Jersey, was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree menacing, disorderly conduct and failure to use a sidewalk.

It is not clear whether he was one of two men waving an American flag or whether he was the third to wave an Israeli flag.

This arrest is the fourth for Lodgson-McCray in recent weeks – he racked up criminal trespassing and resisting charges in May, according to the NYPD.

The identity of the other flag burners still remains a mystery.

The shocking display came as other vandals splashed red paint across Manhattan on Wednesday, including on a Palestinian mission and a luxury building on the Upper East Side.

They also threw the blood-red paint on an NYPD police cruiser, photos show.

Earlier this week, paint-carrying protesters targeted the homes of the Brooklyn Museum's Jewish director and several board members.