A pole-dancer and fellow anti-Israel activist who glued themselves to Sixth Avenue during Manhattan’s iconic Thanksgiving Day Parade dodged criminal charges Tuesday — with one of them defiantly saying he would get arrested again if necessary.
Jay Waxse was initially charged with obstructing government administration, resisting arrest and trespass. The second defendant, who was identified in court papers as Natalia Scollo but identified himself as Ezra, was facing obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
But both ended up copping guilty pleas to a charge of disorderly conduct, a violation and not a criminal charge.
They were then ordered to “lead a law-abiding life” and not to get rearrested for one year to uphold the deal, according to transcripts of their hearings.
In brief statements to the judge, both defendants said they were simply trying to support a cause they believe in.
“We are out here just taking action for the liberation of Palestine so that they have the right to freedom and for safety, which they don’t have now,” Waxse said. “So we just have to liberate them and their people.”
In the hallway, Scollo — who supports himself by teaching yoga and pole dancing, according to LinkedIn, and identifies as he/him — added that he has lived a traditional life of going to college, paying taxes and working to care for family.
“I have done all these things — and still, to see my tax dollars, and to see my government, involved in the genocide of people I don’t even know … I will not allow that,” Scollo said.
“I will get arrested again and again and again, and I will fight for my rights and I will fight for the rights of the people of Palestine until a cease-fire, and a full return of the land to the people of Palestine.”
When asked what he thought about the murder of innocent Jews on Oct. 7, the self-proclaimed activist and organizer said, “Armed occupation requires armed resistance.
“Think of how we gained our independence in this country,” Scollo said. “Our independence from the British came at a price … 20,000 Palestinians and growing is not the same as 1,400 people being murdered in one instance, on one day. This is continuous.”
Scollo, who graduated from Hunter College in 2018 with a political science degree, claimed there was no proof that Hamas sexually assaulted its hostages — and accused the IDF of sexually abusing Palestinian kids and women.
“Of course, we tend to not care about them because they’re brown,” Scollo said of Palestinians.
The defendants were among a group of protesters who interrupted the 97th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade by gluing their hands to the pavement and smothering themselves in fake blood.
They wore white jumpsuits printed with inflammatory slogans such as “colonialism,” “ethnic cleansing” and “fascism,” and held a large sign that read “Liberation for Palestine and Planet.”
Cops arrested several people including Waxse and Scollo.
Waxse is something of an every-issue crusader who has protested against climate change, homelessness and against cutting school funding, according to his social media posts.
Both he and Scollo work for the Poor People’s Campaign.