“What would you have them do?” asked Detroit Police Chief James Craig. That might be a question for all police everywhere confronted by angry “peaceful” protesters. In Detroit, a police SUV ran through a crowd of screaming, enraged demonstrators after the car’s rear window was smashed and protesters could be seen jumping on the car.
A largely peaceful protest in Detroit against systemic racism and police brutality turned violent on Sunday night as a police SUV plowed through a group of protesters, striking multiple people and sending a couple of demonstrators who had climbed on the hood flying from the vehicle.
“A largely peaceful protest”? Maybe the editor of the Post should drive into a crowd of protesters and have his rear window smashed. How “peaceful” is that, bro?
Police accelerated the vehicle multiple times as dozens of protesters surrounded it, according to videos of the incident posted to social media. After each acceleration, protesters could be heard shrieking in shock, pleading for the driver to stop hitting the gas while people were in front of the vehicle and being thrown from its hood.
“Detroit Police Department just ran straight through a bunch of our protesters,” Ethan Ketner, a protester who filmed the scene, wrote on Facebook. “Myself and 10-12 others were struck by this reckless driver who somehow has a badge.”
As the video shows, this was not a huge crowd. There was plenty of room to get out of the way of the police car. There was no earthly reason why protesters should be jumping on the hood of the car, pounding on it, or smashing a window unless to get at the officers in the car to do them harm.
“What would you have them do?”
The inference is they should have just sat there in their car and let a mob tear them apart, limb from limb.
In a news conference Monday, Detroit Police Chief James Craig defended the officers’ actions, saying that the cops “did the right thing.” Craig said that a rear window had been busted out and officers received reports of several protesters who were armed with hammers. The details around those reports remain unclear. Photos sent by the Detroit Police Department to The Washington Post show the SUV involved in the incident with its window busted out as well as dents and scratches.
Of course, the innocent protesters were just minding their own business not bothering anyone.
Dash-cam footage shared with The Post on Monday showed protesters standing in front of the car, yelling at police. Bass said a couple of demonstrators, including himself, began to climb onto the hood of the car until the crowd was safely out of the way. That’s when the police car started to accelerate.
“He just floored it. He went super fast,” Bass said to the Free Press. “Me and a couple of my other organizers that were with me, just went flinging off. We went flying off. He ran over a couple people’s arms, feet.”
“Until the crowd was safely out of the way?” If you believe that the brave, selfless protester jumped on the hood of a police car to make sure the cops didn’t run anyone over, I have a bridge over the Chicago River I can let you have for a song.
The cops were in danger and fled. It’s as simple as that. And if we’re going to ask men and women to put their lives on the line every day, we darn well better make sure they can defend themselves when attacked.
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