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NEW YORK: Multiple people were injured when a car entered a street protest in midtown Manhattan on Friday (December 11), the New York City Police Department said.
Witnesses said the protest march was passing through the intersection of 39th Street and Third Avenue around 4 p.m. when the car passed.
The New York Fire Department said six people were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. Police and firefighters said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Emergency personnel respond to a scene in which pedestrians were struck by a car during a protest on December 11, 2020 in New York. (Photo: AP / David Martin)
Police said the driver, a woman, was detained near the area. She was detained and interrogated. It was unclear if he would face charges.
In a video showing the movements of the car, a small group of protesters could be seen gathered around the car on 39th Street as it slowly approached the intersection with Third Avenue, with one person apparently leaning over the front of the vehicle. .
The car suddenly sped up, knocking down both the people blocking it and the people in the intersection.
In another video from the opposite side, people are seen fleeing and one person is knocked down as the car speeds by.
Emergency personnel respond to a scene in which pedestrians were hit by a car during a protest on December 11, 2020 in New York. (Photo: AP / David Martin)
A participant in the protest, Sofia Vickerman, from Denver, Colorado, said that when the car hit the crowd it threw people and a bicycle into the air.
“I hear people screaming in front, I look behind me, the woman is making her way,” he said. “I see bodies flying.”
He said the march had started in Times Square and was aimed at drawing attention to an ongoing hunger strike by immigrants detained in a New Jersey jail.
