On Tuesday evening, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to oppose a real estate expo being held inside, at which land in the West Bank was being sold. The demonstration was loud and drew a large police presence. Some counterprotesters made serious allegations about what they heard and saw.

The next day, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would investigate the protest following complaints about demonstrators' rhetoric. The DOJ's Deputy Attorney General for Civil Rights called the allegations "disturbing."

The right to protest is protected by the First Amendment. Using the Department of Justice to investigate a political demonstration — based on complaints about the content of speech — sets a dangerous precedent, regardless of one's views on the underlying conflict.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has already criticized how police handled the protest, including the use of pepper spray and what the NYCLU described as an "outrageous no-speech zone." Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the NYPD ensured New Yorkers could safely enter or exit the synagogue while protecting the right to protest. If local law enforcement managed the situation and no arrests were made for criminal conduct, federal investigation of the protest's content raises serious First Amendment concerns.

Antisemitism is real and must be taken seriously — the Anti-Defamation League found 860 antisemitic acts in New York City in 2025 alone. But investigating protesters for the content of their political speech is not the answer.

Sign this petition to call on the DOJ to drop this investigation and to demand that any credible threats or criminal acts be handled by local law enforcement through proper legal channels — not a federal probe aimed at political demonstrations.