A pickup truck struck a protester in Buffalo, New York on Wednesday night, authorities said, hours after a grand jury declined to charge two police officers in the killing of Breonna Taylor.
The victim, who was on a bike, was struck at about 8:45 p.m. ET in Niagara Square near City Hall and is expected to survive after being taken to Erie County Medical Center, police said.
Demonstrators in the central square had been protesting the decision in Louisville, Kentucky about seven hours earlier, not to bring any charges against two police officers who opened fire on Taylor and her boyfriend inside her apartment on March 13. A third officer, whose gunfire tore into the apartment of Taylor’s neighbor, was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment.
Wednesday night’s collision was partially captured in a Facebook Live video, as it showed the vehicle motoring toward a crowd before an impact and screams could be heard.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” a male voice near the camera yelled.
The camera holder then races through the square in hopes of catching up with the vehicle, before coming to a truck with a female driver inside — stopped and speaking on a cell phone.
“So this lady ran someone over, gunned her car through a crowd of people,” the male camera operator said.
The man tried speaking to the woman, who was concentrating on her cell phone conversation.
“You were at a dead stop and you gunned it,” he said. “Come on!”
The police killings of Taylor and George Floyd in Minneapolis have sparked months of protests against systemic racism.
