VIDEO: Crowd swarms pickup during Hollywood protest after driver strikes protester. As things get crazy, pickup speeds off.
Thursday night protests in Hollywood, California, saw one demonstrator struck by a vehicle as they were reportedly blocking the road.
What are the details?
According to KABC-TV, demonstrators marched through Hollywood Thursday night in protest of police brutality and the recent indictment announcement in the Breonna Taylor case.
During one incident, a pickup was seen attempting to maneuver its way through a crowd of protesters on Sunset Boulevard.
The LAPD, in a statement posted to Twitter, addressed one of the many incidents, captioning it, "The LAPD is aware of an incident in Hollywood involving several vehicles and a large group of protesters. Here is the information we can verify at this time."
The statement said, "Just after 7:00 pm Thursday evening, a group of more than 300 protesters marched through Hollywood. While there were isolated reports of vandalism, the group was largely peaceful. The group eventually made its way onto Sunset Boulevard."
The LAPD said that a blue pickup truck that was traveling down Sunset Boulevard "became involved in an altercation" as it attempted to make its way through the crowd.
While attempting to get away from the protest, the driver reportedly struck a protester who was standing in the road. The protester was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries.
"Shortly after 9:00 pm a blue pick-up truck traveling on Sunset maneuvered through the crowd and became involved in an altercation," the LAPD's statement continued. "As the driver attempted to get away from the situation, he struck a protester standing in the street. That individual was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries."
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
What else?
A video shared on social media shows the moments leading up to the driver of the blue pickup truck striking the protester, who has what appears to be a sign in their hands and can be seen sliding on their back across the ground.
After the truck struck the protester, the crowd began to swarm the pickup. As tension built, the pickup driver sped off.
People can be heard screaming and shouting "Oh my God" as the driver leaves the scene.
A social media user shared the clip on Twitter, captioning it, "Full Clip, Truck hits protestor [sic], protestors [sic] swarm vehicle to apprehend/stop driver, Driver flees scene, runs completely over the protestor [sic] he hit."
The LAPD in its statement did not confirm that the protester in question was "completely" run over as the driver left the scene, as reported on social media, or if the protester was in the direct path of the blue pickup truck as it drove away, striking them a second time.
(Content warning: Rough language):
A second social media video shows what appears to be the moment demonstrators attempt to wrest open the blue pickup truck's doors, which took place after the truck struck the protester and immediately before its driver fled the scene.
Content warning: rough language:
Rioters in Hollywood blocked and then tried to open the door of that black truck before he drove off. #LosAngeles pic.twitter.com/KnAoDKakeS
— CIA-Simulation Warlord 🇺🇸😈🇺🇸 (@zerosum24) September 25, 2020
