A pro-Palestine activist embroiled in controversy for tearing down a string of Greek flags after mistaking them for the Israeli Star of David has been arrested and charged.
Amber Matthews, 23, had shared footage of herself ripping down the blue and white bunting as she decried so-called "genocide... and Zionism" outside a Greek restaurant in New Jersey.
Matthews, who goes by the social media alias "Ambamelia", appeared to have become confused by the similarly-coloured flags.
But the 23-year-old was swiftly pulled up on her mistake by bemused staff at the Efi's Gyro eatery in Montclair - as well as social media commentators, who labelled the incident "embarrassing".
Amber Matthews, 23, had shared footage of herself ripping down the blue and white bunting as she decried so-called "genocide... and Zionism"
TIKTOK/AMBAMELIA
She told followers: "I thought it was Israel - my bad!"
Her video, which was recorded in March but only uploaded to popular platform TikTok in October, has since attracted millions of views.
Though police had tried to find out who had torn down the string of flags and decorative lights at the time, they were unable to find their suspect - until now.
Montclair Police Department had launched an probe in March after restaurant owner Efi Mihalis reported that an unknown woman approached the business and removed its flags while repeatedly screaming that there was a "genocide going on".
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Matthews had removed the Greek flags - and now faces a court date
TIKTOK/AMBAMELIA
The 23-year-old took down the Greek flags thinking they were the similarly-coloured Israeli banners
Amber Matthews told followers how she "mistakenly thought the flag for Greek was for Israel"
TIKTOK/AMBAMELIA
Officers then reviewed security footage and found that the suspect had visited the establishment a week prior to hand out pro-Palestine flyers.
But the force had no leads until October 15, when Matthews posted her viral video of the encounter.
"The time I mistakenly thought the flag for Greek was for Israel and took the restaurant's flag down OMG," she had captioned her video.
Elsewhere in the clip, she could be seen snatching the Greek flags, later screaming: "Look at that s**t... Free Palestine, b**ch!"
She then barked at staff inside: "What you looking at? You know there's a genocide!"
Bemused-looking staff confronted the pro-Palestine activist
TIKTOK/AMBAMELIA
She subsequently declared: "I don't stand for Zionism in Montclair!" as she held up a fistful of ripped-down Greek flags.
When confronted by staff at the self-proclaimed "friendliest Greek restaurant in town", she retorted: "What? Really? Oh, I thought it was Israel... my bad!"
Mihalis told The New York Post last week that the bizarre attack was not a skit, insisting her staff were "taken aback" by the tirade.
"This was not planned nor was it calculated in any way," she added.
Matthews was charged with bias and intimidation on Tuesday - and is due to appear in court on December 3, according to local media reports.
