New Orleans police accused of excessive force as Gaza protesters arrested

Police arrested a dozen pro-Palestine protesters in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter, as efforts to set up an encampment in the city’s center were suppressed by local law-enforcement officers.

Officers used batons and tasers on protesters who had congregated in Jackson Square Park, according to eyewitnesses and video reviewed by the Guardian. Three people received treatment in hospital as a result, according to two sources in direct contact with arrestees.

In a press release, New Orleans police said five officers received medical attention after “receiving blows” during the protest but all were in a stable condition.

The release added that two arrestees were charged with “hate crimes on law enforcement”.

Related: Pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia ignore ultimatum to clear encampment

The department did not respond to a request for further comment on its use of force.

Starting around 4pm Sunday, roughly 50 people spread tents and blankets across the grass of Jackson Square Park. One attendee described the group as a mixture of “artists, queers, and community members, as well as families”.

The protesters were acting “in solidarity with the students” across the country, said Kinsey, a protester who only gave their first name due to concerns of retaliation. Since Columbia University began the first encampment two weeks ago calling for divestment from Israel, dozens more have cropped up at universities across the country. Almost 1,000 students have been arrested across the US since the encampments began.

Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed at least 34,000 people, mostly women and children, in an alleged genocide.

Surrounded by banners reading “Free Palestine” and “From the campus to the street, it is time to escalate” protesters chatted and played music, briefly turning the volume down to cheer for a nearby marriage proposal. Children led chants on a megaphone, while their mother, who wore a hijab, looked on smiling.

“It was really wholesome,” added Kinsey. “There was no direct action happening outside of taking up space.”

The atmosphere changed when the public park closed at 7pm, and police officers directed protesters to leave.

About 30 people remained inside the gates, while dozens more, including Kinsey, gathered outside the fence. Within the park, police began using force, throwing several protesters to the ground as they made arrests.

Protesters fled the park, but clashes continued in the adjacent public square, where Louisiana state police were also present. Kinsey said what followed was “an indiscriminate doling out of force”.

Officers used batons and tasers against protesters in the square, including some who had not entered the park at all. At least three people were tased, according to witnesses and video of the protest.

In video obtained by the Guardian, one woman is tased by a male officer while she is running away. She hits the pavement face-down and is arrested.

In another video, a woman in an orange dress is wrestled on to the pavement while an onlooker yells, “She’s a med student, she was never in the park, let her go!” Officers ignore these yells and handcuff her. In the video, an officer proceeds to deploy his taser on the handcuffed woman.

Kinsey witnessed “extreme violence” against people recording the police. While officers were arresting a man who was filming, Kinsey was “body-slammed to the ground head-first, and my skull hit the pavement”. Police then tried to arrest Kinsey, who was concussed, and was too injured to stand.

In a statement, the New Orleans police department said officers asked protesters to leave because the park was closing, and that “while many of the protesters left the park peacefully, others remained and additional persons attempted to scale the fence and enter the park.

“As officers continued to ask protesters to leave, some became violent, striking officers with objects.”

Five officers reported injuries from receiving blows to the head and body.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat, issued a statement expressing support for the police, who “do their job to de-escalate and restore order”.

In January, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, a New Orleans-born Palestinian boy, was shot in the head by the Israeli military while in a car in the West Bank.

Protesters say the encampment was an autonomous action, not planned by any one group or person.

The New Orleans police department has been under a federal consent decree since 2012 due to a history of unconstitutional conduct.