SUV Plows Into Group Of Black Lives Matter Protesters In New York City

The driver of a black SUV is still at large after plowing through a group of Black Lives Matter protesters on bicycles on Saturday evening in New York City.

Bicyclists were participating in a “justice ride,” heading south on Fifth Avenue just after 7 p.m., when the driver drove through the group of them.

A video of the incident shows the SUV driving before coming up on a dense group of cyclists, crashing into them, and then leaving the scene. Screams of horror are heard in the background, and a bike is seen on its side with a bent back tire. A person lies on the ground as people start to surround them and shout for a medic.

Two cyclists suffered non-life threatening injuries in the incident, one 19-year-old woman was taken to Bellevue Hospital, and a 37-year-old man refused medical attention at the scene.

The woman, Allison Eng, posted that she has “a potential fractured right heel, but everything else is fine.”

“My dad and I (and occasionally my younger sister) have been attending these justice rides for multiple weeks,” she wrote. “There has never been a moment where we felt unsafe.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CF7c1j9j5VZ/

According to StreetsBlog, police said they have the license plate number of the car, though it is unclear if the owner of the vehicle was driving it at the time. No arrests had been made as of Sunday.

The organizers of the “justice ride,” Street Riders NYC claimed that the incident occurred after the driver of the vehicle began arguing with volunteers at the event who told him to watch out for the upcoming cyclists.

“One of the volunteers yelled out to organizer, Peter, who immediately cut across and pulled up as the driver was berating and yelling the N word at the volunteer,” the organization wrote on their Instagram. “His own passenger was also trying to restrain him. The driver was also talking about getting a ‘strap’ from the vehicle.”

Their recollection of the event continued: “At some point , black riders came across the location and upon hearing the racial insults, were upset and responded to him. He once again threatened to pull a firearm while retreating into vehicle, yanked his door open, hitting a volunteer’s hand, shut door, and began revving engine, nudging forward into the volunteers who then momentarily stepped aside. He then floored the vehicle knocking aside one black rider who had been engaging with him, and down the street, clipped a rider who was thrown off his bike. Further down he knocked over a female rider then sped down and ran away.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CF7boVlDQZm/?hl=en

This incident is the most recent of many instances in the United States of drivers plowing through groups of Black Lives Matter protestors. Last month, a driver sped through a crowd of protestors in Time Square, though no one was injured.