Iraq war veteran Emily Yates was arrested on Friday after a dispute with police about where she could stand while playing her banjo during a protest against U.S. military action in Syria.

Video uploaded to Live Leak shows Yates asking Federal Parks Police why she could not stand in a shaded area of Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

After several minutes of discussion, two officers bent Yates over a park bench and handcuffed her.

"We live in a police state," she shouts! "We live in a f*cking police state! They're damaging my body and my personal property! I went to war for this country! Stop manhandling me! Stop! Stop! Help! Help!"

By the time Yates is dragged from the park, at least eight officers are participating in the arrest.

A web page claiming to be the "Emily Yates Defense Fund" insisted that the activist "was not engaged in any illegal activity and was not told why she was being attacked."

"While she was busy playing a song, park rangers accosted her. When she demanded an explanation for their aggression, they pinned her onto a park bench and dragged her off to an undisclosed location," according to the website. "We are not being told where she is being held and she has not been allowed any communication with the outside world."