A pro-Hamas demonstration popped up in Jackson Square in New Orleans on Sunday. It didn't last long.
About three dozen protesters rallied at the historic spot in the French Quarter and set up an encampment of 10 green tents on the lawn around the statue of Andrew Jackson. Green tents, eh? It sounds like the protest was funded by the same dark money organizations that fund other pro-Hamas demonstrations around the country.
It wasn't a huge group, but it was a Jazz Fest weekend, and people were busy doing other things. I would not be surprised to learn that these were outside agitators - people who don't live in New Orleans but came in and chose a popular tourist spot to disrupt on a Sunday afternoon.
The protesters put up signs and hung the Palestinian flag, too. New Orleans police responded to the protest around 5:00 p.m. They watched from a sidewalk that circles the statue of Andrew Jackson. When the officers began to clear the square at 7:00 p.m. (closing time on the square), protesters turned violent as they resisted. They began to throw things at the police.
Ten arrests were made. In the background, some were chanting, "We're watching you," and "Let them go!"
Ugh.
Police barricaded St. Louis Cathedral when a call for help came in from police at the scene. Four NOPD officers were injured during the fight to remove the protesters at closing time. Louisiana State Police assisted.
Police formed a human barricade in front of St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans’ Jackson Square as dozens of law enforcement vehicles blocked the area after a Pro-Palestinian protest earlier in the evening. Jackson Square was totally cleared out. @NOLAnews pic.twitter.com/kKP5K4pipM
— Justin Mitchell (@JustinMitchell_) April 29, 2024
By 8:00 p.m. Jackson Square was completely cleared of people. Crime tape blocked the paths to some side streets around the area. No one was allowed to pass through the area by 8:30 p.m.
Kudos to New Orleans law enforcement.
The group wanted to "occupy" Jackson Square because of racism, of course.
"As in Palestine, Andrew Jackson led an ethnic cleansing campaign against Indigenous peoples and drove them from their land," the flyer reads.
There is no ethnic cleansing going on in Gaza. Israel is defending itself for its very survival. Israel is the only democracy in the region. It is the only country in the region that allows multi-ethnic residents to work, go to school, and live among each other.
Like other cities around the country, New Orleans is dealing with pro-Hamas groups holding well-organized protests funded by dark money groups. Last week the Presbytere, a historic museum in Jackson Square, was vandalized with graffiti related to the Israel-Hamas war. On Friday Tulane and Loyola students held a protest that briefly shut down St. Charles Avenue.
The Presbytere was built in 1813. A woman was seen on surveillance video near the museum. "Free Gaza" and "Where is your humanity?" were seen spray painted on the sides of the building Friday morning. The building had been repainted in preparation for Jazz Fest, according to Lt Governor Billy Nungesser. His office is in charge of the state museum. He called the vandal a coward.
"They painted words like 'Free Gaza,' some nasty words," Nungesser said. "To do that to a historic building in New Orleans? That's a coward."
The graffiti was removed from the building quickly due to its location and the amount of tourists in the area, according to Nungesser.
"They chose Jackson Square where we have the most tourists. It's Love the Boot Week. We are cleaning up across the state to put our best foot forward," Nungesser said. "To do this is really horrible."
Nungesser is personally offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.
A Palestinian man, who was not part of the protest, witnessed the protest. He said he was angry about what was happening in Gaza but the protesters were out of line.
“I saw some protesters pulling on a lot of the French Market doors. And, I saw two of them initiate violence," said Abdullah Falefel. Coming from a Palestinian who has family in the West Bank and Gaza, who have kind of been enslaved in a way and treated very unfairly, I am just as angry, but I believe in other ways of protesting.”
Who enslaves his family? It isn't Israel. It is Hamas. It is the corrupt government of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas lacks humanity, not Israelis.
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