Nicky Besuden

Overview

Nicky Besuden was arrested multiple times while engaging in anti-Israel activities. She has also spread hatred of America and the police.

Besuden has engaged multiple times in anti-Israel activism with the pro-terror group Within Our Lifetime (WOL).

As of May 2024, Besuden’s LinkedIn profile said she had been working as the “Acting General Manager & AD New Ventures and Product Marketing” at Consumer Reports since March 2021.

As of October 2022, Besuden’s LinkedIn said she founded Funds for Activists, an “online, mutual-aid community designed to amplify and support financial campaigns and fundraisers for activists in the Black Lives Matter movement.”

As of May 2024, Besuden’s LinkedIn said she graduated from University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) with a bachelor’s degree in public relations, advertising and applied communication in 2010.

As of the same date, Besuden’s LinkedIn said she was located in the New York City metropolitan area.

Also as of May 2024, Besuden used the handle “@nickybLA” and went by the username “Nicky B” on Twitter. She also used the handle “NicolleBLA” on Facebook, “nickybla” on Instagram and “@nyxnyc” on TikTok.

Multiple Arrests

On October 7, 2020, Besuden tweeted: “Guess who got arrested for the 5th time tuesday night…” Besuden’s tweet included a video where she said to an on-duty police officer: “You’re a dick, “b**ch.”

On the same thread, Besuden tweeted: “...Less than a week ago [the police] arrested me and also held me for 23 hours and charged me with a felony...”

Besuden was reportedly arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration after she participated in a December 11, 2020 protest in New York City. Police claimed Besuden “interfered with paramedics as they tried administering medical treatment” to a protester who was injured by a car that drove into a crowd.

On December 28, 2020, Besuden posted on Instagram: “10 intense moments from 2020. Across 8 arrests…I would do it all again…” She then detailed her 2020 arrests and other incidents, including: “10. My 6th arrest-during a MAGA counter protest where it apparently required a half dozen cops to throw me on the ground…”

Besuden included photos and videos of these events in the post. She concluded: “These were all learning moments…Here’s to fighting even harder in 2021…”

Besuden was arrested and reportedly charged with obstructing governmental administration after she participated in a January 18, 2021 march during which some protesters clashed with the police. As of November 2022, Besuden re-posted [slide 20] on her Instagram Stories Highlights titled: “FTP [f**k the police],” a January 19, 2021 photo that showed her being escorted by a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer.

As of November 2022, Besuden re-posted [slide 22] on her Instagram Stories Highlights titled: “BLM [Black Lives Matter],” a photo of her in handcuffs next to two NYPD officers.

Hatred of America and the Police

On June 30, 2022, Besuden posted on TikTok a video of an American flag burning and wrote: “Suggested celebration for july 4th!”

On June 5, 2021, Besuden posted on TikTok: “Defund, disarm, abolish the police! #nyc #abolishthepolice #nypd.”

On April 23, 2021, Besuden posted on Instagram a video of a group of people burning a Blue Lives Matter American flag and celebrating the act.

On March 22, 2021, Besuden posted on TikTok: “No cops, no KKK no fascist USA!” The post featured a video of protesters chanting these words and a demonstrator dragging an American flag on the ground during the protest.

On March 19, 2021, Besuden posted on TikTok: “No good cops in a racist system.” Her post included a video with the words: “No good cops” sprayed on a subway station wall.

On September 21, 2020, Besuden posted [slide 4] on her Instagram Stories Highlights titled: “FTP [f**k the police],” a photo of herself with a friend. She captioned the slide: “FRIENDS THAT ACAB TOGETHER STAY TOGETHER…,” as well as added the number 1312 to it.

“ACAB” is an acronym that stands for “All cops are bastards.” ACAB is sometimes rendered as “1312,” representing the position of the letters in the English alphabet.

5/15/2022 - WOL Bay Ridge Protest

Besuden indicated on TikTok that she participated in a May 15, 2022, WOL protest in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The protest was titled: “Nakba 74,” referencing the 74 years since Israel became a state in 1948.

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”

Besuden posted on TikTok video clips from the protest. In one post, she wrote: “The NYPD trains with the Israeli army on tactics for violently disbanding protests, manipulating and working with media, AND guess where their teargas and crowd-control training comes from?”

The accusation that Israeli law enforcement teaches American police brutal tactics during police exchange programs is used to demonize Israel. Participants in these programs have stated [00:02:14] that the training in Israel focuses [00:13:36] on public policy, counterterrorism and leadership training in the form of lectures and discussions.

At the rally, protesters chanted [slide 2]: “Long live the Intifada!” and held signs that said [00:00:02]: “Nakba 74 - Resistance and return by any means necessary.”

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.

Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to refer to violence and terror perpetrated against Israeli civilians and their allies. It is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence. Anti-Israel activists chant slogans such as: “Resistance by any means necessary!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” in response to terror attacks.

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

5/31/2021 - WOL Bronx Rally for Palestine

Besuden indicated on TikTok that she participated in a WOL rally in the Bronx, New York, on May 31, 2021. During the rally, protesters burned [00:01:29] an Israeli flag and chanted [00:00:01]: “F**k Israel! F**k Israel!”

On June 1, 2021, Besuden posted on TikTok a video of the protest in which anti-Israel protesters chanted [00:00:04]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” The video clip also showed anti-Israel agitator Husam Kaid participating in the rally.

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

On May 31, 2021, Besuden posted a video clip on TikTok from the same rally, in which anti-Israel protesters ripped an Israeli flag and shouted: “F**k Israel!” Besuden wrote: “PSPSPS.”

On the same day, Besuden posted a video on Instagram in which protesters at the Bronx rally chanted: “Be-ruh, be-dam, nifdik ya Aqsa!” Besuden wrote: “

.”

The chant: “Be-ruh, be-dam, nifdik ya Aqsaبروح ودم نفديك يااقصى [With spirit, with blood, we will redeem you, Aqsa]” can be heard [00:01:14] at anti-Israel rallies [00:02:19] in America. Yasser Arafat popularized the chant [00:00:23], which is invoked by anti-Israel protesters regarding a variety of causes.

The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.

5/20/2021 - Times Square Anti-Israel Counterprotest

Besuden participated [00:09:18] in a violent counterprotest at a pro-Israel rally in New York City’s Times Square on May 20, 2021. She can be seen wearing a cap on top of her blue-dyed hair, running [00:09:18] as the police declared the assembly to be unlawful and began arresting anti-Israel activists.

Besuden appeared [00:02:29] next to anti-Israel agitator Hesham Sharafaldin, who verbally assaulted pro-Israel protesters by calling them “p**sy.” The counterprotest occurred during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW) in Gaza.

In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching OGW, carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.

During the event, anti-Israel activists from the counterprotest violently attacked and reportedly yelled anti-Semitic slurs at a Jewish man who was heading to the pro-Israel rally in Times Square. He was then beaten to the ground, kicked and punched. Once he was on the ground he was attacked with a crutch, stomped on by several counterprotesters and pepper-sprayed. Two of the man’s attackers were arrested and charged with three categories of hate crimes.

Counterprotesters also verbally assaulted protesters, stole Israeli flags and chanted at the pro-Israel activists: “Nazis! Nazis!” Some also began throwing projectiles, prompting police to arrest several anti-Israel activists and declare the assembly “unlawful.” Other anti-Israel activists also shot fireworks at people.