Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the Pride Parade in Denver on Sunday morning, and one activist was arrested for assault after spitting on an officer.

Chanting “No pride in genocide” and saying “Pride started as a riot,” the pro-Palestinian activists occupied the middle of the street near the intersection of Franklin Street and Colfax Avenue in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

The pro-Palestinian activists’ tactic is not new. In Boston, the activists also blocked the Pride parade, clashing with the police earlier this month. 

Denver’s Pride Parade, which is among the biggest in the country, is occurring amid heightened political tension in a presidential election year. In Colorado and elsewhere in the country, activists and parents on both sides of the cultural wars have clashed over sexually-explicit materials at school libraries, whether biological boys should be allowed in girls’ sports and the use of pronouns.

At Sunday’s parade, the roughly 100 protesters waited for the marchers at the intersection and then barged through, slipping by police and SWAT teams.

The police officers didn’t stop the protesters.

Four of the protesters blocked a parade vehicle, and then dozens more poured into the streets. The protesters then marched down Colfax in between Pride parade groups, chanting, “Free Palestine.”

One parade participant argued and fought with the pro-Palestinian protesters.

When the activists reached the end of the parade route, they barged through security checkpoints at Civic Center Park and then took to the stage.

In an email, a Denver Police Department spokesperson told The Denver Gazette the officers were mindful of “(respecting) people’s rights to peacefully demonstrate.”

“After being advised to move out of the way, the protesters eventually complied,” the DPD spokesperson said.

The spokesperson acknowledged that the protesters “(obstructed) a permitted event.”

One activist was arrested for spitting at an officer, the police said. 

The protesters also yelled at officers, with some holding signs that contained expletives toward cops.

“They barged in right behind us,” one parade attendee said, lamenting how the LGBTQ’s march had been interrupted.

“It’s a justified thing to do,” the attendee said of the pro-Palestinian protest. “(But) it’s the wrong time and place.”

Denver Gazette news partner 9News contributed to this report.