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Black Lives Matter Protesters Hit By Driver In Times Square Attack Come Forward To File Police Report
By
David Cruz
Published Sep 5, 2020
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Courtesy of Twitter user @DataInput
By
David Cruz
Published Sep 5, 2020
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Two of the five victims mowed down by a driver shuttling pro-Trump supporters during a protest in Times Square have filed a police report, which their attorney said is now part of an "active criminal investigation."
The two victims, who suffered injuries that included broken bones and cuts requiring stitches after they were run over by a black Ford Taurus, were on hand during a news conference held in Times Square on Saturday morning, with their attorney, Sanford Rubenstein. Rubenstein said he is not disclosing the victims’ identities over fears of retribution by Trump supporters. The victims spent two hours at the Midtown North Police Precinct filing a report and speaking with investigators, said Rubenstein, with the three other victims expected to come forward to file their own report.
The NYPD, which had been investigating the vehicular attack that was caught on video, said investigators could not charge the driver with anything because no one had come forward to file a report. Social media posts matched the vehicle's license plate to that of another vehicle that's appeared at pro-Trump demonstrations in the past. That vehicle appeared to be owned by Hakim Gibson, a pro-Trump supporter who purchased the Taurus at a police auction. Police have not identified the driver.
"There is an ongoing, active criminal investigation," Rubenstein told Gothamist. "We are calling on the district attorney with New York County to charge the driver with assault with a deadly weapon, a felony, as well as reckless endangerment."
The incident happened during a Black Lives Matter protest over the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died in March after Rochester police officers detained him and placed a mesh bag over his head.
Video shot prior to the vehicular assault shows counter-protesters being ushered by officers into the Taurus. An NYPD spokesperson told Gothamist on Friday that the Taurus was occupied by several counter-protesters who were ordered to leave Times Square just before 8 p.m. on Thursday. Once inside the Taurus, the counterprotestors were escorted by officers through a parking lot of a hotel nearby to leave Times Square, but somehow “missed the turn” to leave, the spokesperson told Gothamist. The Taurus headed instead toward a crowd of protesters, hitting them in the area of a roadway on West 46th Street near Duffy Square. The NYPD has tweeted the Taurus does not belong to the agency.
"As soon as we began mobilizing to move and march and step up to the street with our bikers to protect the marchers, a vehicle plowed through a red light, hitting several of our riders. From the video that has circulated...it is pretty evident that the NYPD played a role in enabling these individuals to use the vehicle as a weapon against us," said Peter Kerre, co-founder of Street Riders NYC, which has organized protests across the city since May. "Not only do we want charges filed against the individuals who drove into our protesters but we also want the NYPD to be held accountable for their actions in enabling the individuals to drive a vehicle into our riders."
Among the passengers inside the vehicle was Juliet Germanotta, a transgender pro-Trump activist arrested several times for dumping paint onto the Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump Tower. Germanotta -- who was in Times Square to heckle the BLM protesters -- portrayed herself as the victim, reportedly telling the "Freedom News" website that protesters were trying to get into the car. She told the website that the driver hit the pedal after claiming she “heard something really heavy hit the car and that’s when we just went.”
She and the driver were not charged as of Friday. In a statement from NYPD spokesperson Jessica McRorie, "The NYPD has encouraged anyone who was injured to come forward and file a report. There is now a report on file for Thursday, September 3, 2020 at 2010 hours for a black Ford Taurus for leaving the scene, person injured. Two males, ages 38 and 35, stated to police that they sustained non-life threatening injuries at 7th Avenue and 46th Street within the confines of the Midtown North Precinct as a result of a collision. The investigation is ongoing."
Kerre was among the several supporters calling for the driver to turn himself in, while casting some of the blame on the NYPD. Rev. Kevin McCall, who a civil rights leader who had convinced the victims to come forward, called on New York Attorney General Letitia James to open an investigation.
"We spent two hours just having that conversation. They're saying that, 'Oh, there's no complainant.' Well now you have complainants. Arrest them and charge them with felony assault, just like they would do anyone else," said McCall.
Tagged
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police brutality
Times Square
David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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