NEW YORK CITY (WPIX) – Protesters yelling “free Palestine” interrupted Easter vigil mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Saturday evening – landing three people in cuffs, according to the NYPD. 

Midway through a livestream of Saturday’s service, a protester can be heard yelling “free Palestine” as churchgoers turn around in pews and the service continues. 

Three protesters “barged” into the church on 51st Street about 8:45 p.m. – and all three were arrested and charged with disrupting a religious service, according to the NYPD. 

Videos obtained by NewsNation affiliate WPIX show demonstrators at the front of the cathedral holding a banner that reads “silence = death” before they are ushered out of the building. Throughout the protest, demonstrators are singing.

The protest was purportedly affiliated with Extinction Rebellion, a climate justice organization – and was intended to draw attention to the ongoing violence in Gaza and the climate crisis, the group said in a news release. 

A large pro-Palestine protest preceded Saturday’s service in Times Square Saturday, and videos were posted on social media. 

A representative of the Archdiocese of New York did not immediately respond to PIX11’s request for comment.