Gomez said neither of the arrested men identified himself as an NOPD officer when he encountered them in the Mid-City Yacht Club, which is in the 400 block of South St. Patrick Street, near his house. Gomez said both men were white, and one said he didn't like the military camouflage shirt and pants being worn by Gomez, who is Hispanic.
"He asked me if I was American. I told him yes, and he got mad because he said I was fake," said Gomez, who described himself as a U.S. native who was raised in Honduras before returning to live in New Orleans.
Gomez, who speaks Spanish as well as English with an accent, also described being asked if he served in the military.
Gomez said he did serve, including with the Louisiana National Guard, but the man who took issue with his clothing wasn't satisfied with any of his answers.
Gomez told WWL-TV that he had walked home from the neighborhood bar and was trying to leave in his truck when the other men stepped in front of the vehicle to stop it and assault him.
Law enforcement sources familiar with the rookie officers’ version of the incident offered a different narrative, saying the fight began when one of the officers noticed a man wearing military garb and asked the man whether he had a service record.
The sources said the officers eventually left the bar believing the matter was settled, only to find the man in military garb trailing them in his car.
He got out of his car, the sources said, and threatened the officers, who said they fought back in self-defense.
One of the sources said the man was brandishing "a heavy walking stick" as a weapon. Gomez later said he uses a walking cane to help him cope with back problems.
The officers then called other police officers, who responded to the scene and asked for paramedics to come.
The victim was in stable condition when he was taken to the hospital, Emergency Medical Services spokeswoman Liz Belcher said.