LOS ANGELES — Rioters in Hollywood attacked two vehicles that refused to stop as they blocked traffic Thursday evening during “Black Lives Matter” protests against the grand jury decision in the Breonna Taylor case in Kentucky.
The Los Angeles Times reported the incidents under the headline: “Vehicle plows through Breonna Taylor protesters in Hollywood, hitting at least one person.” It claimed that a truck drove against the “flow” of the protest, “striking at least one person as it sped through the crowd.”
The Times included footage of one angle of the incident, claiming protesters were “struck”:
However, footage of the incident shows that the person who was allegedly “hit” had climbed on top of the truck, and fell off when the truck braked:
The crowd attempted to attack the truck before the driver sped away. The Times noted that the alleged victim of the hit-and-run refused to cooperate with the police after being taken by ambulance to a local hospital.
In another incident, rioters attempted to stop a Toyota Prius that was attempting to drive through an intersection they had blocked, and they began attacking it. When the driver attempted to escape, the rioters chased it with a truck and a support vehicle, forcing the Prius to stop. Rioters then assaulted the driver: one even smashed the windshield with a flag, which apparently read “Black Lives Matter.” The driver eventually managed to drive away.
The Times notes that police were investigating both incidents and that both drivers “maintain they were accosted by protesters.”
Taylor, 26, was killed in March in Louisville, Kentucky, after her boyfriend fired at police when they attempted to serve a warrant late at night, and they fired back. She was killed in the crossfire.
A grand jury declined to indict the officers for murder because they had knocked, and at least one witness corroborated their claims that they had identified themselves. One officer was charged with wanton endangerment for firing at nearby apartments.
Riots took place in Louisville and other cities for the second straight night.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.