Iowa man arrested for plowing car into group of peaceful BLM protesters as they needed 'attitude adjustment'
IOWA CITY, IOWA: An Iowa man has been arrested and charged with felonies after police said he drove his car into a group of 'Black Lives Matter' protesters because he claimed they needed "an attitude adjustment."
The disturbing incident unfolded at around 10:25 pm on Friday, August 21, according to a criminal complaint filed against 45-year-old Michael Stepanek in the Johnson County District Court and obtained by KCRG.
The complaint stated that Stepanek had been driving eastbound in a 1998 Toyota Camry along East Burlington Street when he had to stop his car because of a group of protesters who were standing in the intersection between Burlington Street and Gilbert Street. A video posted on social media shows the same car plowing into the group, which was organized by the Iowa Freedom Riders. One of the protesters could be seen landing on the hood of the car before it speeds away.
Mentally not okay. We were only peacefully protesting. #Iowacity #IFR #BLM https://t.co/e2xzDuYFjL
— ala (@alaa_koala) August 22, 2020
Luckily, nobody had been seriously hurt in the incident though police did not receive a report about it either until it gained attention on social media. The person who was struck eventually came forward to complain of pain from the attack, and investigators managed to track the vehicle down to Stepanek.
Asked why the protesters were initially hesitant to go to the authorities, Iowa Freedom Riders organizer Raneem Hamad told the Iowa City Press-Citizen, "I think you can understand when we seek safety, we don't go to the people who've harmed us."
Hamad was referring to how the group, which had formed after several days of protests against police brutality earlier this summer, is currently demanding that the city council release the video of law enforcement using tear gas on protesters in the city on July 3.
"I saw it (Stepanek's car) hit two people," Hamad continued, adding that one of the people was able to move out of the way and the other person was carried a short distance on the vehicle's windshield.
On Saturday night, the police department sent out a release confirming the incident and said an undercover officer at the scene had seen the vehicle speeding away. "The officer noted the license plate, but was unaware that the vehicle had just struck several protesters and was unable to follow the vehicle due to traffic and pedestrian congestion," they said.
Video evidence proved key in apprehending the suspect. It reportedly showed the horn from Stepanek's car sounding before he made a u-turn on Burlington with his tires squealing after he was stopped by the group. Investigators said the 45-year-old then drove around the block and got southbound on Gilbert Street to the north of the protesters with his lights shut off. He proceeded to speed into the crowd and struck multiple protesters intentionally before fleeing eastbound on Burlington Street.
When questioned why he had attacked the protesters, Stepanek told officers they needed "an attitude adjustment," according to the criminal complaint. He was subsequently charged with intimidation with a dangerous weapon, a class C felony, and willful injury causing bodily injury, a class D felony, in connection to the incident and is now being held at the Johnson County Jail.