Euphoria star Hunter Schaefer was among the 33 pro-Palestinian protesters who were arrested for storming the lobby of New York City’s Rockefeller Center during President Joe Biden’s chat with Seth Meyers.
Schaefer, 25, who portrays transgender Jules Vaughn in the hit HBO drama, was issued a summons for trespassing after participating in the demonstration Monday night, sources told the New York Post.
The actress, sporting a ‘cease-fire now’ shirt, was escorted out of the complex by a NYPD officer, photographs show. Her hands were restrained behind her back.
The protesters were trying to send a message to Biden, who was taking part in a taping of Late Night with Seth Meyers upstairs. They held up large signs that said, ‘Jews to Biden: End Israel’s Siege of Gaza’ and chanted ‘end the siege of Gaza now’ and ‘Biden, Biden you can’t hide…’ as they flooded the lobby.
Biden, 81, briefly addressed the ongoing conflict after the demonstration while making an ice cream run with Meyers. He said ‘hoped’ a pause in fighting could come ‘by the end of the weekend’, adding that his ‘national security adviser tells me that we’re close’.
His remark ‘surprised’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who while Qatar, the mediator in ceasefire talks, said Israel and Hamas are not close to a potential deal.
Euphoria star Hunter Schaefer was among the 33 pro-Palestinian protesters who were arrested for storming the lobby of New York City ‘s Rockefeller Center on Monday. She is pictured as officers escorted her out of the building
Schaefer joined the Jewish Voice for Peace organization as protesters occupied 30 Rock on Monday for a sit-in. The protesters were trying to send a message to Biden, who was taking part in a taping of Late Night with Seth Meyers upstairs. They held up large signs that said, ‘Jews to Biden: End Israel ‘s Siege of Gaza ‘ and chanted ‘end the siege of Gaza now’ and ‘Biden, Biden you can’t hide…’ as they flooded the lobby
Schaefer, 25, who portrays transgender Jules Vaughn in the hit HBO drama, was issued a summons for trespassing after participating in the demonstration Monday night, sources have claimed. The actress is pictured in season one of Euphoria
Schaefer joined the Jewish Voice for Peace organization as protesters occupied 30 Rock on Monday for a sit-in.
The group signaled they were made up of Jewish-Americans, sporting T-shirts that read ‘Not In Our Name’.
The group, in a thread on X, said that ‘hundreds of Jews and allies’ had ‘taken over’ Rockefeller Center to ‘make it clear’ to the president that ‘supporters of genocide are not welcome in our city’.
‘The President needs to start answering to the American people – not the far-Right Israeli government indiscriminately bombing the people of Gaza, destroying 70 per cent of infrastructure, including hospitals, universities and the electricity and water grids,’ the organization tweeted.
The group argued there is ‘growing public consensus’ to end ‘further loss of life in Gaza’ and called on Biden to take action.
They criticized his ‘deadly foreign policy’, citing how the US vetoed multiple UN ceasefire resolutions and how the president has ‘pledged an additional $14.1billion in military funding to Israel’.
The group said that 50 demonstrators were arrested during Monday’s protest, however the Post, citing police sources, said 33 people were taken into custody – including Schaefer.
Jewish Voice for Peace seemed to confirm that Schaefer was among those arrested by retweeting several posts sharing photos of police escorting the actress out of the building.
has approached NYPD and the NYC chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace for comment.
Schaefer, a North Carolina native, is no stranger to public protests. The performer, who transitioned to female as a teenager, protested her home state’s so-called ‘bathroom bill’, which restricted bathroom access for transgender individuals.
She attended a rally during a special session of the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh in December 2016, arguing for the repeal of the law.
Schaefer, then 18 and a high school senior, held a sign that read: ‘Trans youth exist, are valid, [and] deserve basic human rights.’
Protesters took over the lobby of 30 Rock on Monday as President Joe Biden was taping an episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers upstairs
Pro-Palestinian protesters take over NBC’s Rockefeller Center lobby where US President Joe Biden will appear for ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ on Monday
Pro-Palestinian protesters stormed into the lobby of New York’s Rockefeller Center to send a message to President Joe Biden, who was taking part in a tape of Late Night With Seth Meyers upstairs
Biden was a surprise guest for Meyers’ 10th anniversary episode of the late night show on Monday. He appeared on the program alongside comedian Amy Poehler.
He was Meyers’ first guest in 2014, during his tenure as President Barack Obama’s vice president.
As part of the taping, Biden and Meyers went next door to the Van Leeuwen ice cream parlor. He chose a mint chocolate chip cone.
During the jaunt the president was asked when a ceasefire in Gaza could begin.
‘I hope by the end of the weekend,’ the president answered. ‘My national security adviser tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.’
Israeli officials expressed mild confusion about Biden’s newfound optimism in the ice cream shop.
Netanyahu was ‘surprised’ by Biden’s remarks, according to a senior Israeli political source speaking to ABC News.
Another source described Hamas’ demands in order to reach a ceasefire were ‘still delusional.’
President Joe Biden (right) eats a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone at New York’s Van Leeuwan Ice Cream alongside comedian Seth Meyers (left)
President Joe Biden (left) answered questions about a possible ceasefire in Gaza and his trip Thursday to a Texas border town as he ate ice cream in New York City alongside Seth Meyers (right)
The president was also asked about his dueling trip Thursday to a Texas border town.
Biden will head Brownsville, Texas to survey the situation at the US-Mexico border, while former President Donald Trump will go to Eagle Pass, Texas.
‘I planned it for Thursday, what I didn’t know was that my good friend apparently is going,’ Biden told reporters.
He wouldn’t say if he’d meet migrants on the ground.
‘I’m not going to announce ahead of time,’ the president said.
During a gaggle on board Air Force One heading to New York Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked to confirm that Biden would be appearing on Meyers show and if the secrecy was to keep away protesters.
‘I don’t have anything on that, if we have more to share certainly we will,’ she said when asked about an appearance on Meyers’ show.
‘I don’t have anything else to share on that,’ she added when asked the White House was concerned about protests, which is why details about the president’s schedule were not being shared.