A black Taurus sedan drove through a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters in Times Square before speeding off Thursday evening.
The incident happened at 46th and Broadway, according to Fox29. Black Lives Matter protesters were chanting “No justice, no peace” at a protest for the death of Daniel Prude, who died in March in Rochester. A car approached and began honking, according to a video posted to Twitter. (RELATED: Police Knelt On Back, Used Spit Hood Before Daniel Prude Went Unconscious And Later Died, Video Shows)
Car drives through protesters, Times Square, New York City, Thursday, September 3, 2020 pic.twitter.com/yMadwNYJSI
— DataInput (@datainput) September 4, 2020
Some protesters appear to stop before the car lurches forward as other protesters try to move out of the way. The car then speeds off as protesters appear to chase after the vehicle.
The car was allegedly at an earlier pro-Trump rally near Duffy Square, according to Fox29. Police asked the car to take another route to avoid other protests. However, the driver apparently ignored the officers’ request and instead decided to drive straight through the crowd, per the same report.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the incident could have been much worse while on Fox 5’s ‘Good Day New York’ program Friday morning.
“We have a car that’s traveling up to 46th street stops at the light. Just as it hits that intersection, you have the group of protesters 200 roughly protesters, as fate would have it, start to move in that direction, down 46th street. This is all captured on video,” Shea said.
He continued, “You have bicyclists block the car from moving. We have two people that strike the car window — one with a punch, one banging it and you have the car speed away right through the crowd. Very dangerous as it hits a block or two after it goes up and makes a right. We are real lucky we didn’t have a vehicle collision with other cars.”
The NYPD said the investigation is ongoing, but shot down any rumors that the car was a police vehicle in a tweet.
There is an ongoing investigation into an incident in Times Square involving a black Taurus sedan. This auto is NOT an NYPD vehicle. pic.twitter.com/kBGuXhFtP1
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 4, 2020
No injuries were immediately reported, according to a later tweet from the NYPD.