FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 22-year-old activist with the Dream Defenders group was arrested Tuesday inside Fort Lauderdale City Hall.
Police said Demetrius Vaughn disrupted an agenda item honoring the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
On Wednesday morning, fellow activists camped outside the jail in Fort Lauderdale, waiting for the release of Vaughn.
They sat on the floor, covered with blankets.
Four officers, flanked by several others, are seen escorting him away from the podium and eventually outside where he was arrested.
The Dream Defenders told Local 10 News they were at City Hall protesting an award given to Fort Lauderdale police for how the department reacted to demonstrations during the Winterfest Boat Parade.
A spokesperson for the group said Vaughn was threatened by police during that time.
The group protested Vaughn's arrest Tuesday at City Hall outside the Broward County main jail, where Vaughn was transported.
"I think it was deplorable what they did. He was exercising his First Amendment right," said member Jasmen Rogers.
Rogers and others said Vaughn was denied a chance to speak at Tuesday's commission meeting.
Mayor Jack Seiler said? he could have had an opportunity to talk.
"From what I understand they were intent on disrupting our meeting," Seiler said. "As everybody knows we allow everybody to speak at City Commission meetings when they sign up to speak. This individual did not sign up to speak."
Vaughn was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing a public assemblage and resisting arrest without violence.
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