Video of a police SUV driving through a crowd of protesters near Waterman and Verner Highway in Detroit, Michigan, surfaced online Sunday.
“In the user footage, a squad car surrounded by dozens of individuals starts to accelerate erratically as people refused to get out of the way,” according to Fox 2.
Protesters appeared to climb onto the hood and some were thrown off as the vehicle stopped, then moved forward again with one person still clinging to its front.
The crowd then ran after the SUV as it left the scene.
“Police spokesperson Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood said officers were trying to redirect traffic when the protesters became agitated. As a few protesters jumped on the hood of the vehicle, another busted out the car’s back window,” the Fox 2 report noted.
Leo Alvarado, who was at a nearby gas station, said he witnessed the incident, according to WXYZ.
“Just so happen to be getting out with my wife, when we heard a bunch of screaming and turned around and cops were plowing through the crowd, or started to drive through the crowd,” Alvarado recalled.
“Craziness. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. Hopefully never again have to see anything like that,” he continued.
Medical personnel treated several individual’s cuts and other wounds and the Detroit police later said they were investigating the incident.
Prior to the event, two protesters covered a recruitment billboard for the police department with a sign that read “Abolish ICE, Defund Police, No cops in schools,” as officers watched, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“What you’re seeing is us taking control back as the people, and showing exactly what our needs are,” protester Jae Bass later told the outlet, adding, “I think police haven’t seen that in a while so they don’t know how to control that.”
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