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Dallas police flooded Uptown on Friday afternoon after police say protesters gained access to a building, prompting officers to detain “multiple” people and call for backup amid what a department spokesperson described as a growing “unruly crowd.”
More than 70 units responded to the 2500 block of North Harwood Street, according to an online list of the department’s active calls. The initial call to the location, where a pro-Palestinian protest was taking place, came at 3:11 p.m., according to the list.
The demonstrators gained access to a building in the area, and as officers moved to detain them, an “unruly crowd began to gather,” Officer Luis Mata, the police spokesperson, said in a statement.
Police requested additional officers to respond as the crowd continued to grow. Multiple people were detained, Mata said.
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The protest, called “Stop Starving Gaza Now,” was scheduled to take place on that block of North Harwood Street from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The demonstration was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement.
The group, according to a media advisory, chose to protest outside the Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm. The firm has an office in Dallas located on North Harwood Street.
By 6:30 p.m., most of the demonstrators had dispersed from North Harwood Street, with some relocating to the Lew Sterrett Justice Center. At the jail, more than a dozen people gathered in the lobby to support those who had been detained.