A Black Lives Matter protest against police brutality and systemic racism was met with a counter-protest and turned violent when a car drove through the crowd in Yorba Linda on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 26.
The BLM march took place on Imperial Highway, with counter-protesters gathered along the other side. At one point, the counter-protesters crossed the six-lane highway and confronted the BLM group as they shouted, “Black Lives Matter” and “U.S.A.”
Then a white sedan came tearing through the crowd.
Someone ran their car through a crowd of Trump supporters. OC Sheriffs took the person into custody. Ambulances were dispatched, but I don’t have information on injuries pic.twitter.com/EAWBSXS8R1
— Border Photog #blm (@desertborder) September 26, 2020
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At least two people were injured, including a man who was bloodied. Ambulances were summoned. People chased the car, which eventually stopped and was surrounded by sheriff’s deputies.
A car just drove through a crowd. The crowd then chased after the white sedan. This person was hurt. pic.twitter.com/0iAhWkcRnu
— Brian Rokos (@Brian_Rokos) September 26, 2020
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Sheriff’s officials declared an unlawful assembly, and the crowds began to disperse.
It was not immediately known how fast the car that drove through the crowd was going. The back windshield had been broken out and appeared to have a flagpole sticking out of it. The front windshield was smashed.
Sheriff’s Lt. Todd Russ said the driver of the car, a woman, was detained. No additional details about her were immediately available.
Warning, the video below includes graphic content:
This is from @buffalo_baff IG LIVE pic.twitter.com/CPvivZL2Gd
— Resist, Esq. (@ResistEsq) September 26, 2020
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This is the car that drove through the crowd. I don’t know all the circumstances. pic.twitter.com/I7it1BzJKy
— Brian Rokos (@Brian_Rokos) September 26, 2020
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The counter-protesters call BLM protesters criminals, yet it is the counter-protesters who are breaking the law today by jaywalking across Imperial Highway to engage the BLM people. The police arrived to break things up. pic.twitter.com/SInauBKnNz
— Brian Rokos (@Brian_Rokos) September 26, 2020
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It was the second time a car drove through a crowd of protesters in Southern California this week.
On Thursday night, someone was struck by an SUV speeding by a crowd of demonstrators in Hollywood on the second night of protests related to the killing of Breonna Taylor by Louisville Metropolitan Police Department officers.
Shortly before 9 p.m., a black SUV went by the crowd, striking a protester before speeding away again. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded and took one person to a hospital, according to the LAFD’s Nicholas Prange.
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical worker, was fatally shot in her apartment early on March 13 by officers executing a search warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend, who said he thought someone was breaking into their home, fired through the door and hit an officer. Police returned fire and Taylor was killed.
No officer was charged in her death.
Earlier this month, a car drove through a Black Lives Matter protest in Times Square held to honor Daniel Prude, who died during a confrontation with police in March. His family released video recently showing that officers placed a “spit hood” over his head, then pressed his head into the ground while he lay on the street naked and handcuffed.
Following release of that video, protests broke out nationwide and seven officers were suspended.
The BLM demonstration in Yorba Linda came three days after a deputy shot and killed a homeless Black man in San Clemente. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes released a grainy video he said showed the man was reaching for a deputy’s gun.
The San Clemente city council imposed a curfew on Thursday night, but a protest against police brutality in the wake of theshooting broke up an hour before the 9 p.m. deadline.
No violence was reported that night.
This story is developing. Please watch for updates.
Source: Orange County Register
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