Police released a video showing protesters attacking a disabled man’s car after he drove through the middle of a protest in Columbus, Ohio, in May.
Eldon Hawkins, a 58-year-old who has cerebral palsy, left his home on May 31 to go to dinner and pick up flowers, according to local outlet WBNS. He then drove into a group of protesters.
“I was at the intersection, and I got the green light. I was trying to toot my horn, thinking, ‘Hey guys, look at the light,'” Hawkins said of the incident.
As he started to back up, Hawkins hit a person with a bicycle.
Protesters then attacked Hawkins’s car, as seen in a video recently released by Columbus police officials who are looking for help from the public in identifying persons of interest.
“They threw a bicycle on my windshield and started kicking my doors and windows,” Hawkins said, according to WBNS. “It scared the life out of me.”
“I thought they were going to kill me,” he added.
One witness, Phillip Hurst, said Hawkins “accidentally struck” the person with a bike.
“Columbus Police Looking For Persons Of Interest Involving Victim With CP Who Was Attacked During Riots – 5/31/20. Anyone info contact Det. Nace at 614-645-2119 or [email protected] or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477,” the Columbus Police Department tweeted.
Columbus Police Looking For Persons Of Interest Involving Victim With CP Who Was Attacked During Riots – 5/31/20
Anyone info contact Det. Nace at 614-645-2119 or [email protected] or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477
Click for video: https://t.co/PR7BlXN6B0 pic.twitter.com/eAdXbmVqy9
— Columbus Ohio Police (@ColumbusPolice) July 8, 2020
Hawkins’s car endured over $8,000 in damages, and people from his church and some who attended the protest raised funds to help pay for the damages.
“It’s one thing to protest, but when people start breaking windows and spray painting the F-word, that’s turning this beautiful city into a dive,” Hawkins said.
