NEW ORLEANS – Six people were arrested by the NOPD while they were allegedly spray-painting graffiti on a building on Conti Street in an apparent protest over the incarceration of several local rap artists, according to police spokesman Janssen Valencia.
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of Conti.
According to Valencia, police were advised by some off-duty military officers that several people were spray painting a building nearby.
Valencia said that when the officers arrived, the men fled and were apprehended nearby.
He said the suspects allegedly put a banner on a street post at Royal Street and Canal Street to champion their cause. In addition they had placed obstacles on Burgundy Street – including police barricades, metal garbage cans and pieces of concrete with literature advocating their cause.
The six arrested subjects were charged with disturbing the peace (unlawful protest), resisting arrest by flight and criminal damage to property.
Three of the suspects were listed as homeless, two were from Monroe, Louisiana and the third from Pennsylvania.
