Car ploughs into Manhattan protest, injuring several; driver detained
Emergency personnel respond to a scene where pedestrians were struck by a car during a protest on Dec 11, 2020, in New York. (Photo: AP/David Martin)
NEW YORK: Several people were injured when a car drove into a street protest in midtown Manhattan on Friday (Dec 11), the New York City Police Department said.
Witnesses said the protest march was passing through the intersection of 39th Street and Third Avenue at around 4pm when the car went through.
The New York Fire Department said six people were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. Police and fire officials said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Police said the driver, a woman, was stopped near the area. She was taken into custody and was being questioned. It was not clear if she would face charges.
In one video showing the car's movements, a small group of protesters could be seen gathered around the car on 39th Street as it slowly approached the intersection with Third Avenue, with one person seemingly leaning over the front of the vehicle.
The car suddenly accelerated, knocking aside both the people who were blocking it and people who were in the intersection.
In another video from the opposite side, people are seen fleeing and one person is bowled over as the car barrels through.
A participant in the protest, Sofia Vickerman, of Denver, Colorado, said that when the car hit the crowd it tossed people and a bicycle in the air.
“I hear people screaming in the front, I look behind me, the woman is ploughing through," she said. “I see bodies flying."
She said the march had begun in Times Square and was aimed at drawing attention to an ongoing hunger strike by immigration detainees at a jail in New Jersey.
