Two women were hit by a car that accelerated through a shutdown related to the freeway protests, authorities in Seattle said Saturday morning.
One woman was seriously injured and the other seriously injured, Washington State Patrol spokesman Rick Johnson tweeted. The Seattle fire department said the injured women appeared to be in their 20s.
“A vehicle broke through the lock and hit several pedestrians on the highway,” Johnson tweeted shortly after 2 am. Just before midnight, he had said parts of Interstate 5 were closed due to the protests.
The vehicle was stopped and the driver was in custody, Johnson said.
Seattle has been the site of protracted riots following George Floyd’s police murder on May 25 in Minneapolis, which sparked protests across the country over police brutality and systemic racism.
Interstate 5 has sometimes been closed for protests in the weeks that followed. Dozens of people were arrested this week in connection with protests, after authorities cleared the “Capitol Hill Busy Protest” zone on Wednesday morning.
Early Saturday morning, a video on social media showed that a white car was traveling at high speed around two vehicles that were positioned across the lanes as a barrier.
The car headed toward a handful of protesters on the highway, hitting two who flew into the air before landing on the ground.
No further details were immediately available, but state agents planned a press conference for 4 a.m. local time. Seattle police tweeted that they were assisting the state patrol as the southbound lanes of the freeway remained closed for investigation.
