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New Port video shows Sea-Tac Airport protest when pepper spray was deployed

Nearly 3,000 people gathered last month at Sea-Tac Airport in opposition to President Donald Trump's travel ban that barred travelers from seven predominantly Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

Some leaders and activists still question law enforcement’s handling of the protesters – one focus including a video showing an officer spraying what appears to be pepper spray in direction of protesters.

KIRO 7 News put in a request for surveillance video from Sea-Tac of when a dispersal order was given and the subsequent spraying. Seattle police said they did not use pepper spray and deferred questions to Port of Seattle police. Read more on that below.

On Friday, KIRO 7 received an extremely pixilated version of the Sea-Tac video from the Port of Seattle. It’s hard to tell in the video if spray was dispersed. The start of the video shows police making a bike barricade, and around the 2-minute mark the video police are dragging a protester away from the crowd.

In a CNN video that went viral, Kent Thomas was in the front of the line at a protest where he was taken down by authorities. It's the same video that shows an officer deploying spray.

"I believe the police met nonviolence with violence," Thomas told KIRO 7 News.

>> Related: The story behind a viral video of a police takedown at Sea-Tac protest

SPD wrote after the protest that none of their officers deployed pepper spray and that per review protocol the use of the bicycle barricade would be reviewed. Read their full statement here.

Sea-Tac Airport officials are defending the way they responded. KIRO 7 News attended a Port of Seattle commission meeting in mid-February, where airport director Lance Lyttle explained he was trying to balance freedom of speech with the safety and security of everyone at the airport.

Lyttle said the situation escalated to a safety and security concern when, he said, protesters became violent. In addition to the pepper spray and bicycle barricade, the light rail skipped the airport during the protest.

>> Related: Sea-Tac Airport officials defending their response to travel ban protesters

“That's when the dispersal order was given because it was now getting out of control, happening at multiple points throughout the airport,” Lyttle added.

The Port of Seattle Commission wants to review the incident to see what they can learn from it. Port of Seattle interim police Chief Ron Covey said he gathering information from the 11 departments that responded. He said they should have a completed report by March 6.