Update: Police Make Arrests, Use Stun Guns Against Protesters In New Orleans

December 20, 2007 1:06 p.m. EST

New Orleans, LA (AHN) -- Protesters fought with police on Thursday in New Orleans as the City Council met over whether to approve a federal plan to replace three public housing complexes with a mix-use development.

Police confronted protesters marching to the council chambers at City Hall with stun devices and chemical sprays. The chambers had a capacity of less than 300 people. Officials earlier increased security surrounding the chambers in anticipation of the protests.

Police also made arrests, and one woman had to be taken away in a stretcher after she was sprayed with chemicals, according to the Associated Press.

The Housing Authority of New Orleans last Friday postponed plans to raze three public housing complexes damaged by Hurricane Katrina because it wants city officials to weigh in on the issue of where to put low-income families who will be left homeless by the demolition. The agency, together with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), had plans to begin demolishing 4,600 government-subsidized apartments and replace them with 744 similarly subsidized homes.

The council passed a resolution last month supporting legislation that called for the replacement of public housing destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but the HUD, which is reportedly spending $762 million for the redevelopment, has proposed a quicker redevelopment plan that reduces the number of public housing units to make way for 1,000 market-rate and tax-credit homes.

Protests and lawsuits have been filed against the HUD over the demolition plans, which opponents claim requires the council's approval and reduces public housing in the city by as much as 82 percent.