A University of New Hampshire student charged with assaulting the chief of the school’s police department during a pro-Palestinian protest on May 1 was mistakenly identified and then violently arrested, the student said in an interview Friday.

During an at-times physical confrontation between other protesters and UNH Police Chief Paul Dean, the student, 21-year-old Aidan Turner, paced around nearby, video footage of the interaction shows and Turner said. Seconds later, as Dean walked away with a rain cover of a tent he had confiscated, Turner, dressed in a tan coat and red sweatshirt, yelled at his fellow protesters to “lock arms” in a circle – but did not appear to come in physical contact with Dean himself.

Both Turner’s account and the video footage contradict the probable cause affidavit in his case, which alleges that Turner “grabbed Chief Dean” and then “grabbed him again.” Turner has been charged with assault, in addition to criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct.

“I didn’t touch the chief,” said Turner, a rising senior from Connecticut. “At best, I would say it’s false identification. At worst, I’m just a scapegoat for the chief not being able to find anyone to stick charges on.”

Dean, through a UNH spokesperson, has declined to comment, citing the ongoing criminal investigations against those arrested May 1.

Dean has also previously been criticized for engaging with protesters while dressed in plain clothes. Turner said that Dean did not identify himself and he did not know he was a police officer.

“He looked like he was coming back from golf league or something,” Turner said of Dean.

Of the 12 people arrested on May 1, 10 were students.

UNH’s handling of Turner’s criminal case appears to contrast with how the university responded to the cases against most other students arrested – including another student who claimed he was mistakenly arrested, but identified himself as a “counter-protester.” Last month, the UNH Police Department dropped all charges against that student after a friend emailed then-President of UNH James Dean that he had been “mistaken for a protester,” according to a report from the Boston Globe. (Former President James Dean, whose term ended last week, is not related to the Police Chief Paul Dean.)

Last week, a UNH Police Department prosecutor offered to drop charges against another student arrested in exchange for 40 hours of community service, a deal the prosecutor told the student he would make with any of the other protesters who had been charged solely with disorderly conduct and trespassing.

Turner is one of two students who is also facing assault charges. The other student, 29-year-old Sebastian Rowan, is charged with two counts each of assault on a police officer and resisting arrest, charges that could carry a prison sentence of up to two to five years.

In a separate interview Friday, Rowan declined to comment on the details of the charges against him, except to say that he did not resist arrest or assault any officers. He is accused of grabbing Chief Dean twice and striking two other police officers in the head with a sign, according to court records.

Strafford County Assistant Attorney Walter Ramos, who is prosecuting the cases against both Turner and Rowan, said Friday that he is still waiting to receive documents from UNH in both cases and did not yet have enough information to determine whether he would consider dropping any of the charges against the men or offering plea deals. Ramos said he expected to receive the case files within the next few weeks.

In the interview, Turner also accused UNH police of using excessive force in arresting him. The arrest was also captured on video.

According to the video and Turner’s account, UNH police officer and department prosecutor Frank Weeks charged at Turner, placed him in a headlock, and brought him to the ground.

“I definitely think he used too much force,” said Turner, who said Weeks made no attempt to arrest him peacefully. “He saw me, I remember he kind of smiled a bit, he lunged towards me, and he grabbed me and took me to the ground. So there wasn’t any, ‘You stop right there, you’re under arrest.’”

Weeks did not respond to a request for comment.

Turner’s arrest came more than an hour after the confrontation between Dean and protesters. Dean had given Weeks a description of Turner – that he was “wearing ‘tan coat and red’” – which Weeks used to identify him, according to the probable cause affidavit in Turner’s case.

Turner said that after being arrested, he asked Weeks to have Dean make an identification of him, which Weeks refused.

Turner was held overnight at Strafford County Jail, where he was strip searched and given a tuberculosis shot.

“One by one, pretty much every person that I was arrested with would get their paperwork and they would leave until it got to [Rowan] and I, and then they told us, ‘You have to stay the night because you have assault charges,’” Turner said.

He described the night in jail as “probably the worst experience of my entire life.”

Both Rowan and Turner were arraigned the following day. Rowan has since returned to court for a probable cause hearing, but Turner has not. Turner has a trial scheduled for Sept. 10, Ramos said.

Turner’s public defender, Katelyn Henmueller, did not respond to a request for comment on the status of his case.

Turner said the experience of being arrested for something he said he didn’t do has changed his perception of UNH.

“I was really proud to call myself a student here and I love it here,” said Turner, who transferred to the university in the spring of his sophomore year. “But after this, it’s really hard to look at it the same way as I used to.”

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at  jmargolis@cmonitor.com.