George Floyd death: SUV ploughs into protesters and rams into man who tried to hold onto car's hood
DENVER, COLORADO: An SUV reportedly rammed into a group of 'Black Lives Matter' protesters in Denver before hitting a man on the third night of unrest following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer.
The widespread protests across the United States followed Floyd's killing as demonstrators demanded the arrest of officers involved. At least four Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's brutal death were fired on May 26 after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The footage showed Floyd pleading with the officers as one of them, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck, telling them that he could not breathe.
Footage from the scene of the protest in Denver showed a Jeep Grand Cherokee careening through a group of Black Lives Matter protesters as they lunged to get out of the way. One man jumped up on top of the hood of the vehicle as it accelerated towards him before jumping down and running away from there. The SUV then appeared to drive off before suddenly swerving and charging into a man as a horrified onlooker yelled: "Watch out!" As the protester is thrown to the floor, he quickly jumps up and starts chasing the car, joined by others. However, it drives away.
You can watch the video here.
The video was shared by Joshua Potash on Twitter with the caption: "Warning: this is horrifying. Tonight at a Black Lives Matter protest in Denver a car pushed through the protesters blocking the street. Then intentionally turned to try to run a man over."
The clip was quickly likened to the murder of Heather Heyer in 2017 after a man, identified as James Alex Fields Jr, ploughed his car into her as he launched his vehicle at protesters in Charlottesville. The Denver incident occurred the same night rioters in Minneapolis broke into a police station and burned it. Images from the scene showed flames billowing out of the Minneapolis Third Police Precinct just hours after prosecutors warned that there is "evidence that does not support criminal charges" in the case of the four police officers accused in Floyd's killing. The protest in the region intensified as demonstrators feared that the officers would walk free from the crime.
Protests in New York City led to the arrest of at least 70 demonstrators in the region after the New York Police Department officers were seen brawling on the ground with them. Demonstrators in Ohio reportedly smashed the windows of the statehouse in downtown Columbus and others damaged a police cruiser in downtown Los Angeles.
Floyd's death, which follows the brutal killing of a black woman Breonna Taylor, who was shot dead by police officers while she was in her bed, and the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old jogger gunned down by a former police officer and his son, has reignited tensions between the black community and police officers in the United States. Multiple celebrities, including LeBron James and CardiB, have also raised their voice against police brutality in the country in the wake of recent events.