In what can only be described as a tragic oversight in checking the day's arrest forecast, one person has been apprehended and two others are being sought for setting American and Israeli flags on fire outside the Israeli consulate in New York City. The incident unfolded with all the grace of a poorly coordinated flash mob, as the suspects decided that the best place for a bonfire was in a bike lane.

According to Fox News and ABC News, Jahki Lodgson-McCray, aged 20, was arrested and now faces charges that read like a greatest hits compilation of petty offenses: reckless endangerment, menacing, disorderly conduct, and the extraordinarily specific crime of failing to use a sidewalk. Lodgson-McCray's performance in this outdoor incineration party didn't quite garner the standing ovation he likely hoped for.

The NYPD, noting that the public has a low tolerance for flag-burning circus acts, promptly increased security efforts around the consulate (Fox News). NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry took to social media to voice his disdain, calling the suspects "cowards" (ABC News).

On a more official note, the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is now investigating the incident, delving into the usage of an "unknown accelerant" that turned what was presumably intended as a protest into an amateur hour for arsonists (Fox News). To complicate matters further, the burning flags posed a considerable danger to bikers and pedestrians. The only thing scarier than a cyclist bearing down on you is one who’s also trying to avoid a burning flag.

Additional acts of anti-Israel chicanery followed, broadening the scope of juvenile delinquency. Vandals flung red paint onto the homes of Jewish employees from the Brooklyn Museum, as if their residences were just waiting to be part of a controversial art installation (Fox News). As if this guerrilla art wasn’t enough, a masked man led a call-and-response chant against Zionists on a crowded Manhattan subway car. Because nothing says reasoned debate quite like an unsolicited political TED Talk during your morning commute (ABC News).

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has publicly denounced these acts of vandalism, rightly labeling them as unacceptable antisemitism. Good to know that even as societal tensions rise, political leaders can still reliably be counted on to state the glaringly obvious (Fox News).

The lesson here? If your idea of a protest involves turning public spaces into pyrotechnics displays, at least double-check the arrest forecast. And do remember, always use the sidewalk—it may just be the thin line between making a political statement and getting booked for a litany of offenses. As New York has made clear this week, pyromania and political expression make for a combustible mix—pun very much intended.