HIT & RUN: Sheriff’s vehicle hits protester at Stephon Clark vigil.

A Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy struck a protester with his patrol SUV as she and others gathered in the street to denounce the killing of Stephon Clark, then left the scene, according to video of the incident.

The incident Saturday night threatens to exacerbate an already tense relationship between police and protesters in California’s capital. Observers say the deputy struck the woman at a high rate speed of speed, while authorities say the vehicle was moving slowly and the deputy was responding to a dangerous situation created by some of the demonstrators.

During a vigil, a woman carrying a “Stephon Clark Rest in Power” sign walked in front of a sheriff’s vehicle and motioned the driver to stop, according to a video from the National Lawyers Guild Legal Observers. The deputy then drove away, said Guy Danilowitz, a legal observer who recorded the video.

“The vehicle accelerated and struck her, accelerated very fast and struck her violently and she fell to the ground,” Danilowitz said. “It was a very fast acceleration, not the way you would move with people around.”

The woman suffered only minor injuries, but in the video the SUV did seem to suddenly accelerate while the woman was directly in front of it.