HARVEY, La. — Deputies and protesters clashed Tuesday as protesters marched up the Lafayette Street off-ramp to the elevated Westbank Expressway, where a line of JPSO deputies was waiting to stop them.
According to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, three deputies were injured and five protesters were arrested.
Protesters were gathered to call for investigations into the deaths of Keeven Robinson, Leo Brooks, Chris Joseph, Davri Robertson and Modesto Reyes, five Black men killed during encounters with JPSO deputies. Protesters were also calling for JPSO to begin using body cameras.
Video shows protesters going up the ramp, where they met a line of deputies armed with shields and batons.
One deputy on a loudspeaker told protesters "we are here to protect your first amendment rights...don’t give them up by coming up on the elevated expressway."
Video obtained by The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate's Michelle Hunter captured part of what happened.
According to JPSO, two sheriff's office supervisors were punched in the face by protesters. One of them was sent to the hospital to receive medical care and has since been released.
Five people were arrested.
One protester, 20-year-old Uma-Kristina Kumar-Montei, was arrested on the off-ramp, according to JPSO. The other protesters involved in the fight fled the scene.
As protesters dispersed, witnesses saw JPSO deputies rush into the thinning crowd to make more arrests connected to the fight.
(WARNING: Video contains profane language)
Nathaniel Smith, 31, allegedly punched a deputy in the face during the confrontation on the ramp. According to JPSO, deputies spotted him and moved in to make an arrest, but 29-year-old Natahn Durapau intervened.
Police say Durapau tried to stop help Smith espace, allegedly kicking a deputy in the groin. Both men were eventually arrested.
Briget White, 31, is also accused of punching a deputy on the ramp.
According to JPSO, deputies located her in a car driven by 33-year-old Eric Winins. Police say both of them refused to get out of the vehicle and were eventually arrested.
