St Louis protests: Woman knocked over by police during demonstration charged with 'interfering'

St Louis Police say an elderly woman who was knocked down by officers was disobeying orders, and has been charged with “interfering”.

A local Fox station caught the incident on camera while covering protests in St Louis, Missouri this weekend. In the video, police with plastic shields can be seen advancing on the woman, ultimately pushing her to the ground. Several officers continue to move forward, stepping over her body, while others physically block protesters who appear to be trying to help her.

Afterward, officers can be seen helping the woman up and escorting her out of the view of the camera.

The video stirred outcry online, where some accused the officers of assaulting the woman.

“They could have broken her hip like that,” one Twitter user wrote. “Who is that evil?”

The police department eventually responded to the backlash with a tweet, saying: “Woman knocked down during demonstration shown in @FOX2now's video failed to obey officers' orders & was charged w/ ‘Interfering’.”