Police arrest two, pepper spray crowd at pro-Palestinian rally in downtown Orlando

Orlando Police arrested two people and deployed pepper spray during a 1,200-person otherwise peaceful rally calling for a ceasefire in Gaza at Lake Eola Park Saturday.

Protesters gathered for the mostly peaceful rally to march from the northeast lawn through the park. When the group made way back to the lawn, tension escalated as a woman addressed the crowd using a megaphone. Two protesters blocked police from the woman, leading to several people in the crowd getting knocked down. Police pepper-sprayed the crammed crowd and instructed protesters to move away.

Two people were taken into police vehicles as protesters chanted, "Let them go."

After the rally ended, the Orlando Police Department confirmed the arrests and said the two individuals arrested will be charged with battery on a law enforcement officer.

OPD issued a press statment saying, "The Orlando Police Department is committed to keeping everyone safe who chooses to peacefully assemble in the City of Orlando, while also maintaining the safety of residents and businesses."

Protesters rallied ahead of the 76th anniversary of the Nakba on May 15. Meaning "catastrophe" in Arabic, the Nakba refers to the violent mass displacement of Palestinians during the early formation of Israel in 1948. The term has historically been used to describe the ongoing displacement of Palestinian people by Israel.

The demonstration came more than seven months after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that killed about 1,200 Israelis. Since then, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Demonstrations calling for a ceasefire in Gaza have surged in recent weeks, while several U.S. universities have seen encampments staged by students calling on the institutions to divest from Israeli companies and companies or funds profiting from the war.

University of Central Florida students May 6 launched an encampment in solidarity with a global student-led movement in protest of Israeli violence against Palestinians and in support of their university's divestment from Israel.

Amid the U.S. encampments and campus demonstrations, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has remained steady in denouncing such protests, calling them a "cheap cause." DeSantis and the state of Florida previously instructed state universities to take "any steps necessary" to prevent pro-Palestinian protests.