In the wake of a call for worldwide protests by Khaled Meshaal, a former Hamas leader, the New York City Police Department is implementing heightened security measures. A memo distributed on Wednesday night to all NYPD members mandates that all uniformed officers “perform duty in the uniform of the day and be prepared for deployment.”
According to the memo, there will be no exceptions for excusals or shift changes, and the order will stay in place “until further notice.”
This directive comes in response to Meshaal’s call for the Islamic world to stage protests this Friday. Meshaal served as the chief of Hamas from 2004 to 2017.
The urgency for tightened security follows a devastating terrorist attack in Israel last weekend, attributed to Hamas, that resulted in over 1,200 fatalities. Among the dead are 27 Americans, with hundreds more reportedly missing and feared to be hostages.
Today, both France and Germany issued bans on such protests. Earlier, French police clashed with demonstrators in Paris, using water hoses to disperse crowds that were in violation of the ban.
The NYPD’s heightened state of alertness aligns with growing international concern over potential unrest. Authorities are closely monitoring the situation and prepared to take additional security measures as needed.