Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist overwhelmingly favoredin the race for a House seat representing part of New York City, was arrested Thursday while protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations.
Avila Chevalier, who ousted longtime Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D) in a June primary, had been among hundreds of people who rallied outside the U.N. headquarters and blocked traffic with a coalition of pro-Palestinian groups.
“I refuse to allow a war criminal to roam the streets of our city unchallenged,” Avila Chevalier said in a statement. “I refuse to play host to a man who has overseen the slaughter or injury of more than 64,000 children in Gaza with American taxpayer dollars.”
Avila Chevalier ran for Congress in part on her past activism on the war in Gaza. She participated in the 2024 encampments at Columbia University, her alma mater, and was also arrested this spring at a protest asking Sens. Chuck Schumer (D) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D) to vote against selling weapons to Israel.
She said she decided to challenge Espaillat in part because of his slow response to the federal detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a constituent and Columbia University encampment organizer.
A spokeswoman for Avila Chevalier said police instructed demonstrators to disperse or risk potential arrest. She had not been released as of about 3:30 p.m.
Several other progressive Democratic nominees for the U.S. House, including Melat Kiros (Colorado), Chris Rabb (Pennsylvania), Adam Hamawy (New Jersey) and Brad Lander (New York), were also present at the demonstration, her spokeswoman said. Comedian Caleb Hearon and actor Hannah Einbinder were also arrested.
Avila Chevalier is all but guaranteed to win her general election in the deep-blue 13th district in New York that backed Kamala Harris by nearly 60 percentage points.
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