RENO, Nev. — A pickup truck drove through a group of activists protesting Columbus Day, hitting at least four and sending one to the hospital.
The group of about 40 protesters, which also was speaking out against the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, had stopped at just before 7 p.m. PT Monday under the Reno arch to pose for a photo when two men in a white Nissan pickup stopped just before a crosswalk, said Quanah Brightman, executive director of United Native Americans.
The driver approached the protesters and the group crowded around the truck, according to a Facebook Live video from Taylor de Lao. The protesters and the driver exchanged heated words, and the man in the truck then drove through the crowd.
“This is a hate crime,” Brightman said. “It’s still brutal to see this kind of racism in America. That man deserves life (in prison) for what he did.”
Kitty Colbert, 59, of Carson City, Nev., was hospitalized after she went under the truck and spoke out in a Facebook video Tuesday. Renown Regional Medical Center listed her condition as “serious” Tuesday afternoon.
Medics evaluated five people, including the driver and his 17-year-old passenger a few blocks away and three people at the scene, Reno Police Chief Jason Soto said in a news conference Tuesday.
“He had the choice to go around either direction on the street, and he deliberately plowed right through us, and I got run over,” Colbert said in the video. “I got run over and now I have several pelvic fractures, a sacral fracture and one in my hips as well, a small fracture.”
Earlier in the day, Soto said officers would not arrest the 18-year-old pickup driver. Police are continuing to investigate the incident and the chief said that the activists had no permit to march in the street but are allowed on the sidewalks without one.
“I know the guy in the passenger seat didn’t press the gas pedal, but the guy that was driving needs to be arrested. I feel that this was attempted vehicular homicide,” Colbert said. “He could’ve killed me, and he didn’t care.”
Activists, heeding a call from the Occupy Reno Facebook group, are expected to gather in front of Reno’s police station Tuesday evening in a Stand for Injustice to protest the decision not to arrest the driver.
Reno’s mayor, Hillary Schieve, said any group has the right to conduct a lawful protest and asked the public to come forward with additional photos to aid police in their investigation.
After ramming into the crowd, the driver sped away and made a right turn. The Rev. Ralph Whitted of Cincinnati said he was standing at the intersection of Virginia and Second streets when he saw the truck speed off.
“He was weaving in between cars, gunned it and nearly clipped another car,” Whitted said.
Taylor Paniagua Sr. said he jumped in front of the pickup in an effort to stop the driver from fleeing. Paniagua said he caught the hood of the truck, but the driver kept going.
He grabbed one of the side doors and was dragged toward Second Street, he said. He eventually let go and slid, scraping his arms.
“This just is not right,” Paniagua said. “It didn’t seem right when they revved the engine.”
“I had to stand up for my rights,” he said. “I’m Native American myself, and I’m from Oklahoma. It was just uncalled for.”
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/10/11/columbus-day-protest-assault/91885460/