A truck drove through a group of protesters in Hollywood on Thursday night, striking and running over at least one person as it sped through the crowd, news footage shows.
Demonstrators had gathered at 7 p.m. at Hollywood Forever Cemetery before marching through the streets of Hollywood.
They were decrying the announcement Wednesday that just one of three Louisville, Ky., police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death in a bungled raid of her apartment, had been charged with a crime. The one indicted officer, Brett Hankison, was charged not in connection with Taylor’s death but for allegedly firing blindly into her apartment building.
The charging decision, anticipated for months, has infuriated people throughout the country and spurred large protests, including one Wednesday night that drew hundreds of people to downtown Los Angeles.
On Thursday, the group in Hollywood was walking down Sunset Boulevard, video posted to Twitter and YouTube shows, when what appeared to be a black pickup accelerated among the protesters, striking one directly and hurtling the person backward. The truck then sped down Sunset Boulevard, nearly hitting other people who leaped out of the way, the footage shows.
Nicholas Prange, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said paramedics were called just before 9 p.m. to the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Seward Street. An ambulance transported at least one person to a hospital. Prange had no information about the person’s condition.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department said the area’s watch commander was still trying to gather information.
A few blocks east on Sunset Boulevard, a white Prius tried to drive through the fringes of a group of demonstrators who had gathered in an intersection, according to footage from KCAL-TV Channel 9’s chopper, Sky9.
People in the crowd began striking the car’s windows and doors, the footage shows. After the Prius cleared the crowd, a black pickup truck with several people sitting in the bed gave chase, accelerated ahead of the Prius and pulled to an abrupt halt. A man got out of the truck and, according to the footage, appeared to be trying to pull the driver out of the Prius.
As the Prius reversed, it collided with a green convertible; a person got out of the convertible and began striking the Prius with a flagpole. Another person arrived on a skateboard, which he used to smash the Prius’ windshield, the footage shows. The driver of the Prius drove off but was taken into custody by an LAPD unit, according to the helicopter footage.
Meanwhile, protesters continued to march along Fountain Avenue, just south of Sunset. Mo Broughton, 32, of Hollywood, used a megaphone to urge protesters to stay behind vehicles that were part of the protest.
“Please stay behind the cars — it’s for your protection,” she yelled.
___
© 2020 the Los Angeles Times
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
