Watch: Pro-Palestine protest in Jackson Square goes from peaceful to violent

A pro-Palestinian protest ended in violence and arrests in New Orleans on Sunday night. Around 30-40 people gathered in Jackson Square and hung signs, the Palestinian flag, and pitched tents around the statue of Andrew Jackson in the popular tourist area in the French Quarter.

New Orleans police came to the protest to keep watch at around 5 p.m. The square closes at 7 p.m. every night, but the protesters refused to leave and some were even throwing things at the police officers. Some footage circulating online shows police arresting some of the protesters and forcing some to the ground just as the sun began to set.

Four officers were reportedly injured in the ensuing fight that broke out and 10 people were arrested. The square was cleared out by 8 p.m. and the police formed a human barricade at the front of the St. Louis Cathedral. They would not let anyone through past 8:30 p.m.

This was just the latest demonstration to take place in the United States. Recently, there have been protests on college campuses and on the West Bank in Jefferson Parish. A flyer advertising the protest in Jackson Square said that the location was chosen because of its racist roots. It read, “As in Palestine, Andrew Jackson led an ethnic cleansing campaign against Indigenous peoples and drove them from their land.”