New Orleans community organizer Toni Jones is fighting back against what she calls a targeted attack on First Amendment rights after being found guilty of two charges stemming from a 2024 pro-Palestine protest near Tulane University. On Tuesday, June 24 at 8:30 a.m., Jones will hold a press conference outside Municipal Court to announce her appeal and condemn Tulane’s role in what she characterizes as an escalating pattern of political repression.
Jones, chair of New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP), was arrested on March 16, 2024, during a demonstration that called on Tulane to sever all ties with Israel. At the time, she was seen intervening between a student protester, Rory MacDonald, and Tulane Police Sergeant Vincent Silva, who was attempting to pull MacDonald onto campus grounds to detain them. When the arrest attempt failed, Silva instead detained Jones, charging her with battery, interfering with an investigation, resisting arrest, and obstructing a public place.
More than a year later, on May 6, 2025, a judge found Jones not guilty on two of the four charges—resisting arrest and obstruction—but handed down guilty verdicts on the counts of battery and interference. Jones is now appealing those decisions, saying the entire case was rooted in an attempt to silence dissent.
“I’m appealing these charges because we cannot take any attacks on our right to protest lying down,” Jones said in a statement. “Tulane University is trying to label me a criminal for simply standing on a public sidewalk. These charges are a veil for political repression, plain and simple.”
Jones isn’t alone in raising concerns. In the year since the protest, Tulane has drawn criticism from student activists and civil liberties advocates alike for its response to campus demonstrations, particularly those connected to international solidarity movements and critiques of U.S. foreign policy. Several students who’ve spoken out against the war in Gaza say they’ve faced disciplinary threats and surveillance by university officials.
Tuesday’s press conference is expected to feature speakers from Students for a Democratic Society, the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and NOCOP. Organizers say the event will also serve as a broader denunciation of what they describe as a dangerous post-Trump trend toward criminalizing protest and politicizing university policing.
Jones’s organization, NOCOP, is the New Orleans chapter of National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and it was formed in 2021. NOCOP’s primary campaign is the fight for a Community Police Accountability Council (CPAC) in New Orleans. A CPAC is a civilian oversight board made up of democratically elected civilians with zero ties to law enforcement, equipped with the power to hire and fire officers, conduct investigations, appoint the Superintendent, decide police policies and budget, and more.
The press conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. at 1601 Perdido Street, with Jones scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. to formally initiate her appeal.
Big Easy Magazine reached out to Tulane for comment, but did not receive a response at this time. We will continue to follow this story as it develops.
