A Detroit police SUV drove through a crowd of protesters on Sunday night after demonstrators began pounding on the vehicle.
Video taken at the scene shows several protesters surrounding the car on Vernor Highway at about 9:30 p.m. The demonstrators chanted “no justice, no peace,” and began hitting and standing in front of the SUV in an apparent attempt to prevent it from driving forward.
The officer behind the wheel of the car is shown quickly accelerating through the crowd, sending some people flying in all directions.
One of the men thrown from the hood of the vehicle was 24-year-old Jae Bass, who told the Detroit Free Press he was standing between the car and protesters.
“In response to that, he just floored it,” Bass told the newspaper. “He went super fast. Me and a couple of other organizers that were with me just went flinging off. We went flying off. He ran over a couple people’s arms, feet. He ran over her phone. I think I was the last person on the car. I was just holding onto the car. I could feel him speeding up, and then he did one of these, and he flinged me off the car.”
A police spokesperson said the rear window of the police vehicle was smashed in, and the department is investigating the incident, the newspaper reported.
Protesters had been rallying earlier in the day at nearby Clark Park.
Since the death of George Floyd and other black people who have died during interactions with police, demonstrations against police brutality have taken place with regularity in nearly every major American city.
Detroit Police Department drove into 10-12 protesters including myself. Multiple people are going to the hospital. #NoJusticeNoPeace #detroitpolice #GeorgeFloyd #BreonnaTayor #PoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/etj3a6ejzN
— Activist Ethan Ketner (@DJEazyTwist) June 29, 2020
