SUV Carrying Iowa Governor Hits Black Lives Matter Protester, No Injuries: Police

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds updates the state's response to the CCP virus outbreak during a news conference at the State Emergency Operations Center, in Johnston, Iowa, on April 23, 2020. (Charlie Neibergall/ pool/AP Photo)

A vehicle that was carrying Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds struck a Black Lives Matter protester, according to police.

Iowa State Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Alex Dinkla told The Hill that the protester, who was not identified, wasn’t injured in the incident.

Dinkla said the person “intentionally stepped in front of the slowly moving vehicle” in Ackley, Iowa.

“As the vehicle began to turn away from the protestor and onto the roadway, the demonstrator intentionally stepped in front of the slowly moving vehicle,” Dinkla said in a statement. “The demonstrator had little to no physical reaction to any contact he created and the vehicle then entered the roadway.”

The protester, meanwhile, didn’t seek medical attention but “immediately began shouting obscenities at the responding personnel” before blocking police from leaving the area, according to the spokesman.

Jaylen Cavil, an organizer with Des Moines Black Lives Matter, told the Des Moines Register that he was the person who was hit by the governor’s vehicle.

“The SUV that Gov. Reynolds was driving in drove right up to me. I was standing right in front of the car and I just stood there. I was like, ‘I’m going to stand here. Surely the driver of the governor is not going to hit me with her car. This is the governor, my governor, who’s supposed to be representing me. I’m sure that her car is not going to intentionally hit me.’ I was wrong,” he said.

Cavil alleged that the vehicle drove away after the incident, while an Iowa State Patrol officer then called him an idiot.