Attack on #occupydc Protesters at Occupy Koch Brothers Action
UPDATED November 5th 4:30pm
Last night our protest against the Koch brothers-funded Defending the American Dream Summit ended in a heartless act of violence and an abortion of justice. The driver of a silver luxury car, Maryland plates 8(A over J)8425, plowed through one line of protesters peacefully blocking L Street, stopping, pausing and hitting the gas, carrying a woman 20 feet before she was launched off the hood of his car. At least one police officer clearly saw this assault, as his car (number 6918) turned and pursued the driver. The driver then turned the corner, stopped again, threw up his hands, and hit the gas, plowing through another peaceful line of protesters at 7th Street and New York Ave – while driving in an oncoming traffic lane. There he hit a 34 year old woman, her 13 year old son, and her pregnant 36 year old partner. Having left two people motionless on the ground, he was stopped by sitting police cars before he could escape.
The three people hit in the second attack were each given a ticket for “walking against the ‘do not walk’ sign” and “obstructing traffic in the roadway” – meanwhile, no punishment has been handed down to the driver.
At this point a crowd of Occupy D.C. protesters gathered to condemn the driver and ensure that the police take him into custody, after two hit-and-runs seen by at least 50 eyewitnesses. To our surprise the police refused our offers of eyewitness accounts by demanding that we back away. (A police officer with badge number 4650 later told one of the women struck by the driver that they had interviewed 20 eyewitnesses but only taken into account one of them, as that one was “the only neutral party.”) Several police justified the driver’s actions by repeatedly asking, “Why were you in the street?” At one point a police officer with badge number 4722 pursued, slammed against a car and handcuffed an African-American protester for no apparent reason. After about 20 minutes, the police allowed the driver to drive across the street, where he sat for about another 15 minutes before being allowed to leave.
Upon seeing the driver let free, a few dozen protesters flooded back into the street to protest this miscarriage of justice. At that point the police began tackling protesters, shoving two into the ground and cuffing them. They also tackled a random person biking by, and arrested him.
According to the D.C. police, the driver will not be charged “because he had a green light when his vehicle struck the three on Friday night.” To the contrary, there are no traffic lights at all at the scene of the first hit. Above all, a green light does not give anyone the right to drive into a person with their car.
The only green light we see here is the one giving people the right to attack peaceful, non-violent protesters of a system run by the wealthy elite at the expense of true democracy. Last night the police state told us that it is not a crime to attack peaceful protesters with vehicles. Fortunately none of the protesters appear to have sustained serious injuries. Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells has promised to investigate this incident, and we expect justice to be served.
We are the 99%. We stand for accountability, equality and justice.
