Police officers, firefighters and other employees for the New York City municipal government have gathered in the thousands to protest a vaccine mandate for the novel coronavirus and temporarily blocked Manhattan-bound traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge.
There are currently about 46,000 unvaccinated city employees who face termination if they do not get a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the November 1 deadline.
“Due to a protest, all Manhattan-bound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge are currently blocked. Expect delays and consider alternate routes,” the New York Police Department said in a statement.
According to footage on social media, thousands of city employees are peacefully marching across the Brooklyn Bridge chanting “Let’s Go Brandon,” which is an alternative to chanting “Fuck Joe Biden.”
The chant was born after NASCAR racer Brandon Brown recently won a race and during an interview with MSNBC after his win, the interviewer misinterpreted the fans’ derogatory chants about president Joe Biden by falsely claiming they were saying “Let’s go Brandon.”
Many protesters are carrying the US flag and others are holding up signs with messages opposing the vaccine mandate.
