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An immigration raid on Manhattan’s Canal Street was greeted by hordes of angry New Yorkers Tuesday night, and one person in particular emerged afterward as an unlikely protagonist: “the lady in the polka dots.”
Photos and videos from the scene show the woman, dressed in a demure blue and white polka dot dress and blue jacket, looking toward an armored police vehicle as she calmly launches double birds, her purse slung over her left arm.

In another video, the unidentified woman can be seen fighting with a man wearing a tactical vest before stepping back to adjust her bag. A different angle appears to show her intervening in that case to calm tensions between the man wearing the vest and a third protester.
A separate photo shows her flipping the bird once again while the same man, presumably an ICE officer, appears to make a face of resignation and walk in the opposite direction.
The “lady in the polka dot dress” received applause online.
“A woman in a polka dot dress showing more courage than half of Congress will ever have,” reads a response on Bluesky. Another read: “Motto of the day: Be the lady in the polka dot dress. Stand up to the bullies and give them a two-finger salute.”
The woman, like many of the protesters, appeared to be on her way home from work when she encountered federal agents wearing tactical gear.
New York City Councilman Christopher Marte told City & State New York that he saw the number of immigration agents increase from seven to more than 80 over the course of 30 minutes.
“This was Trump’s response to 100,000 [New Yorkers] “This past weekend we protested because we shouldn’t have a king in the White House,” he added.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, told The News that agents were conducting a law enforcement operation against sellers of “counterfeit products.”
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McLaughlin described the New Yorkers who confronted ICE as “rioters who shouted obscenities, became violent, and obstructed law enforcement, including blocking vehicles and assaulting law enforcement.” He said at least one person was arrested for assaulting an officer.
But Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said it was the agents who sought to create “a violent spectacle,” not the other way around.
“This operation had nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with terrorizing immigrant families and communities,” he said in a statement. “Federal agents created a violent spectacle, knocking bystanders to the ground and using force against New Yorkers simply for doing what they do every day.”


