# rally
At least 20 people were arrested during the protests, police sources said.
About 5,000 angry demonstrators marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan days after the mayor announced that all government employees except prison workers would need to get vaccinated or take unpaid leave by Friday. Many carried American flags and chanted "F-K de Blasio" and "We will not comply!"
Some protesters wore NYPD and FDNY shirts, and some held up Gadsden's "Don't Tread on Me" flag, while others went to the extreme of wearing David's yellow star, comparing vaccination requirements to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.
"Now, after so many emergencies -- Hurricane Sandy, the blizzard... I was threatened. We face the threat of losing our livelihoods because we are only keeping open the option to protect our bodies, "firefighter Sofia Medina said, bristling at the city government after the crowd arrived.
"Why now we are being bribed and forced to take medicine. ... We are not and never have been a public health threat."
"Leave us alone and let us work," she told Mr. De Blasio. "Make way for those of us who want to work and show up on time."
"Mayor de Blasio wants to portray us as immoral, unsafe and a danger to the public. To the citizens of this city, we want to continue to protect you,"