(Screenshot from OPD bodycam/via Instagram)
ORLANDO | Central Florida Queers for Palestine held a peaceful protest at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando Sept. 21; however following the event, several pro-Palestine protesters were arrested after an incident broke out with Orlando police.
The incident began when an individual who supports Israel began to argue with a small group of the pro-Palestine protesters as they left Lake Eola. To keep the situation from imploding, officers with the Orlando Police Department began to escort the pro-Israel individual to their vehicle. Shortly after, an altercation between the pro-Palestinian civilians and OPD took place.
OPD released a bodycam footage and statement on their Facebook page about the incident, pledging “transparency” in light of the event.
“A demonstration took place at Lake Eola where 20 individuals peacefully walked around the area, monitored by officers from the Downtown and Parramore Bike Units,” OPD said in a statement.
The statement goes on to say that “the demonstrations concluded peacefully” at 5:15 p.m. and at around 5:30 p.m., bike officers responded to a disturbance near the E. Central Blvd. Publix.
“Upon arrival, they found some demonstrators in an argument with a person of opposing views,” the statement continues.
OPD then states that the bodycam footage shows one of the arresting officers attempting to “keep the parties separated and prevent a physical altercation in the interest of safety for both parties.”
The bodycam footage shows moments before the altercation between several of the protesters and a police officer on a bike. At around 59 seconds, a police officer can be seen pushing a protester to the ground, which then led to multiple arrests from the OPD.
OPD has said that a use of force investigation is underway.
Co-founder of the Central Florida Queers For Palestine, Lamia Moukaddam was the protester who was seen being pushed by the OPD officer. They say that they had just been leaving the protest when OPD began following them and the group back to their cars. As the group started moving, the heckler began yelling at them and Moukaddam wanted to record the moment.
“I pull out my phone and I start walking back towards the group and I pull out my phone specifically toward this woman and the police trying to record their collaboration,” Moukaddam says. “It was just bizarre, I wanted to document it.”
Then, the officer on the bicycle pushed Moukaddam into a tree. The officer has said that Moukaddam “lunged toward him” in a threatening manner. In a video that shows the incident from another angle and that was shared with Watermark by CFL Queers for Palestine, it does not appear that Moukaddam “lunged” toward anyone.
After Moukaddam landed and hit the tree, protesters came to check on her leading OPD to arrest several of the protesters in the video. Moukaddam says the situation has put things into a bigger perspective.
“It was just the irony going from a pro-peace, anti-war, anti-genocide, anti-violence protest to then be turned into a brutal scene by the Orlando Police Department and specifically for their claim at attempting to keep the peace,” Moukaddam says.
J Brown was seen in the video huddling over Moukaddam after the altercation. As a member of the CFL Queers For Palestine, their job was to serve as a first aid and assist those who may become hurt or injured while out protesting. Brown was arrested along with Moukaddam and was placed in a jail bus shortly after the incident occurred.
“We were given no orders for dispersal, we were given no warnings,” says Brown. “There was no statement of why we were being detained as we were being handcuffed.”
Both of them were escorted to jail with little to no understanding of what they were arrested for. They were searched, stripped and then placed in solitary confinement for more than five hours before learning what they were charged with. Brown says they were withheld from food for over 11 hours in jail.
“The entire process just reminds me of what my transgender elders have gone through at the hands of police radicalization and the violence that trans and gender nonconforming people have experienced,” Brown says.
Throughout all of this, both Moukaddam and Brown remain committed to speaking out against the bombings in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Their focus and strength rely heavily on the community supporting them, in and outside the state. Part of the aid used to bail out Mouakddam and Brown came from a Gaza-based organization called Healing Our Homeland. Mouakddam says that the support they receive, along with the knowledge that people from all over are helping them, serves as a motivation to keep moving forward.
“I feel like even in this moment, the people of Gaza and the people of Palestine through genocide are still taking care of us here,” says Mouakddam. “It is them who’s supporting us and it is our people here in Central Florida supporting us as well.”
After being released from jail, Brown says they are still dealing with the psychological effects of being incarcerated. Instead of backing down though, both expressed that this has only strengthened their resolve to work towards ending Israeli bombings and achieving the liberation of Palestine.
“It has further emboldened my commitment to participating in any way I can for liberation (and) for the end of genocide and the end of all colonial powers, and that includes the empire that we live in today,” says Brown.
Watermark has reached out to OPD for more information on the incident and the investigation but did not heard back.
