Police Locate Driver Who Was Seen Striking Protesters

A police car in a file photo. (Mira Oberman/AFP/Getty Images)

A driver who struck several protesters in Indiana on Monday was located by law enforcement, a police spokeswoman said.

A brief video clip shared on social media by a woman at the protest showed a dark minivan striking several people who were protesting in Indianapolis. As people shouted, the driver continued driving as the individuals who were hit bounced off the front and tumbled to the ground.

By the end of the 15-second video, the driver had driven away from the scene on Monument Circle.

Chan Harris-Searcey, who took the video, said the driver ran through the crowd, which was “PEACEFULLY protesting.” Harris-Searcey, who posted on her Facebook that only black reporters should reach out to her, didn’t respond to a request for additional video footage.

Genae Cook, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, told the Indianapolis Star that the driver was later located and was cooperating with police.

“There was a vehicle on the roadway while protesters took over the street,” Cook said. “There was damage done to the vehicle and the vehicle attempted to leave the area,” she added, noting that several other people were detained for questioning.

Reached by The Epoch Times, Cook declined to share more information, including whether officers had obtained other video footage of what happened, saying, “Right now that’s under investigation.”

A prosecutor was aware of the probe, she said.

None of the injuries appeared to be serious, Cook told the Star.

Shakeela Dozier, 21, told the paper that a city truck went to the area to move barricades on the circle but was blocked by the group of protesters. As the truck backed up, the minivan came from behind the truck and struck several people before moving away.

The incident is the latest involving vehicles and protesters amid nationwide protests and riots sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.

A trucker driving in that city was released last week without being charged after he drove onto a freeway blocked by thousands of people. The driver was pulled out of his track and assaulted by some of the people before being taken to a nearby hospital.

In Washington state, meanwhile, a man who was swarmed by a group on June 7 in downtown Seattle brandished a gun, shooting one of the protesters, before surrendering to the police.