Orlando police investigates its own use of force on pro-Palestine protesters

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Police Department has opened an investigation into its officers’ handling of pro-Palestine protesters Saturday as a peaceful rally at Lake Eola Park turned into a clash that resulted in the arrest of eight demonstrators.

The agency released body-worn camera video of a physical confrontation between an officer and protester, stemming from what a police spokesperson described as an altercation between the rally goers — who marched in protest of the ongoing bombings in Gaza and more recently in Lebanon by Israeli forces — and a woman “with an opposing view.”

The footage, which OPD released late Sunday night “in an effort to be transparent” after bystander video was posted on social media, showed the two sides shouting at each other as they walked along Lake Avenue.

As one demonstrator, identified by FOX 35 as Lamia Moukaddam, approached, an officer without apparent warning shoved her several feet into a tree, sparking an uproar as protestors moved to check on her condition. Eventually, eight people were arrested on charges including disorderly conduct, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest with and without violence.

The eight protestors, whom OPD has not publicly identified, have since been released, according to Central Florida Queers for Palestine, which organized the rally and was co-founded by Moukaddam. According to a statement issued by the group Sunday, police began following demonstrators as they left the rally area after a woman exited a store with “Zionist messaging on a sign” and began “to berate the group of us attempting to reach our cars and go home.”

Central Florida Queers for Palestine released video capturing another angle of the incident, which showed officers pulling demonstrators away from Moukaddam in order to handcuff her. Police affidavits that might further illuminate the law enforcement description of events were not immediately available as of Monday afternoon.

“As a Lebanese-American who has family experiencing unfathomable violence overseas, to see OPD enacting further violence on us here only connects our struggle that much more,” continued the group’s statement, written by Moukaddam. The group did not immediately respond to a message seeking a response to OPD’s announced probe of the incident.

The videos raise some questions about OPD’s original description of events, in which the agency said Moukaddam, though without naming her, had “lunged toward” the cop and the counter-demonstrator. In the statement, Moukaddam said she approached the woman “to record OPD’s [collaboration] with the agitator” when she was shoved by the officer.

OPD said the officer was “attempting to keep the parties separate and prevent a physical altercation in the interest of safety for both parties.”

The footage drew condemnation Monday from the Florida chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations, which called for criminal charges against the officer who shoved Moukaddam.

““There is no place in Florida for police excessive use of force,” CAIR-FL communications director Wilfredo Ruiz said in a press release. “Law enforcement’s response to free speech cannot be police brutality; it must be the opposite. Police have an obligation to protect and safeguard the rally attendees exercising their constitutionally protected rights.”

Saturday’s rally is the latest local demonstration in response to ongoing violence in Gaza, which has suffered nearly a year of bombardment following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed nearly 1,200 Israelis. Since then, more than 41,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israel’s campaign in the occupied territory, which has since expanded into Lebanon amid exacerbating tensions.

Past protests this year throughout Central Florida, though mainly peaceful, have ended in skirmishes between demonstrators and police, including a mass rally at Lake Eola Park in May that resulted in the arrests of two people following a dispute over the use of a megaphone. Three other protestors with Central Florida Queers for Palestine were arrested that same day at a demonstration blocking traffic along Interstate 4 near Disney Springs.

At the University of Central Florida, protests have remained calm. But university leaders in June implemented a camping ban along with stricter rules on demonstrations.

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