Amid tight security, thousands turn out for Macy’s Thanksgiving parade
A police vehicle makes its way down New York’s Sixth Avenue behind the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday.
Americans paused Thursday to celebrate their blessings despite terrorism fears and racial tensions over fatal police shootings across the country. A record number of police officers patrolled the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, while St. Louis resumed its annual parade, canceled last year amid protests over Michael Brown’s death.
Here’s a look at how Americans celebrated:
--Spectators at the annual Macy’s parade in New York noted a stepped-up police presence, with officers perched on buildings like Radio City Music Hall and watching from helicopters hovering overhead.
“It’s a little scary, but at least it’s keeping us safe,” Kim Miller of Boston said of the heavy security. “We’re having fun.”
City officials said there were no known credible threats against New York following the deadly attacks eight days earlier in Paris and a video purportedly produced by the Islamic State group that contained footage of Times Square. But Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said more than 2,500 officers would nevertheless be stationed along the parade route for the Thanksgiving festivities — the largest number of officers the department has ever assigned to the event.
The parade, in its 89th year, included marching bands and floats along with Hello Kitty, Snoopy, SpongeBob SquarePants and other giant balloons.
Pamela and Tom Popp of Ridgefield, N.J., said they’ve come to the parade every year for at least 20 years.
“It’s just a very special part of our holiday,” Pamela Popp said. “We’re very proud of New York City and this wonderful tradition.”
Her husband noted the right security. “I see the cops on top of Radio City,” Tom Popp said. “Never saw that before.”
--In St. Louis, a modest-sized crowd gathered on an unseasonably warm morning for the annual Thanksgiving Day parade that was canceled last year amid protests and widespread unrest resulting in multiple arrests over the death of Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old and other police shootings.
The 2014 parade was supposed to be held several days after a St. Louis County grand jury decided to not indict former Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, in Brown’s death.
--In Illinois, after two days of demonstrations following the release of a video that shows a white Chicago police officer shooting and killing black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014, protest organizers said there were no marches planned for Thanksgiving Day. Instead, they said they were preparing for a march through the city’s famed shopping district, the Magnificent Mile, on Friday.
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