Tensions Run High at New York Blood Center Chimp Protest

As activists in New York City gathered to stage a three-venue protest to demand that the NY Blood Center (NYBC) reinstate funding for chimps who they abandoned in Liberia and the Ivory Coast, an NYPD officer criticized protesters for over ten minutes, arguing that they should target ISIS, which is killing “millions” of people, and protect Christians in Egypt instead of “talking about monkeys.”

Upon viewing this footage from the protest, The Gothamist posted a story entitled “The Best Protest Video of 2015”

Following the shocking tirade, activists staged protests at NYBC’s headquarters and at the nearby office and home of Laurie Glimcher, the dean of Cornell Medical College, who served on the board of NYBC when the decision was made to abandon the chimps.

NYPD officer says activists should be focused on ISIS and Christians being killed in Egypt.

Prior to the protest, an anonymous source at NYBC informed organizers that employees would be directed out of the back entrance. A team of activists was therefore stationed at that location in order to ensure that people exiting the building were educated about their employer’s crime.

Activists confront NY Blood Center employees as they leave the building from the emergency exit in a failed effort to avoid the protest.

At 5:15 p.m., activists marched to nearby Cornell Medical College to inform students, faculty and staff that the decision by their Dean, Laurie Glimcher, to resign from NYBC’s board did nothing to help the chimps who she agreed to abandon while she was a member. Cornell students appeared to be exasperated by the presence of loud activists chanting outside of the library windows.

Activists chant with fervor at the windows of Cornell Medical College’s library where students are studying.

At 5:45 p.m., activists marched to Dr. Glimcher’s nearby apartment, where several of her neighbors asked police officers what could be done to silence the disruptive activists.

When Laurie Glimcher’s neighbors complain about the disruptive protests, activists tell them to “take it up with Glimcher.”

Will Dr. Glimcher continue to invite disruptive protests at her home and office by defending NYBC’s decision to abandon the chimps, or will she publicly demand that NYBC fulfill its promise to provide lifelong care for the chimps whose lives they destroyed?

Please sign the Care2 petition to demand that Citigroup, one of NYBC’s biggest donors, cut funding until the organization reinstates funding for the chimpanzees.