Protest Erupts in Hasidic Community before Wedding
KIRYAS JOEL, N.Y. (AP) -- Trooper cars were pelted with eggs and plastic water bottles when a melee erupted hours before an outdoor wedding in a Hasidic community.
State Police say about 200 young men were involved in a rowdy protest in the Hudson Valley community of Kiryas Joel Monday. It began when workers from Orange and Rockland Utilities removed decorative lights that had been strung from poles without permission.
The lights were for the wedding of a granddaughter of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, a Satmar Hasidic leader.
Police say protesters blocked the utility's trucks with metal pedestrian barriers and then climbed on the trucks. They used the same barriers to block the cars of troopers who tried to escort the utility workers out of Kiryas Joel.
One trooper was treated for minor injuries. No police cars were damaged.
There was one arrest.
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