Shock moment Cedar Rapids, Iowa protesters hit by truck during mass demonstrations over Roe v Wade abortion decision
SHOCKING video appears to show a truck hitting pro-choice protesters during a demonstration in Iowa over the Roe v Wade decision.
Police told local media that at least one person was hit in downtown Cedar Rapids as mass protests take place across the US.
Police said a group of protesters was crossing the street near the federal courthouse around 7.17pm when a protester was hit by a truck.
The collision came after verbal confrontations between protesters and a driver, local ABC affiliate reported.
Cedar Rapids Councilmember Ashley Vanorny was at the protest and tweeted about the incident.
“Tonight a truck jumped traffic + plowed into peaceful protestors crossing the pedestrian walkway at the Federal Courthouse,” she wrote.
ROE V WADE
“I was walking along side them — the crowd included children alongside me."
In an interview with The Sun, Vanorny explained that demonstrators were in the street in response to the Supreme Court’s decision.
Following speeches, protesters walked around the city while chanting.
“Everything was peaceful. Everybody minded their Ps and Qs,” she said.
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“As we were finishing up, literally the last leg of it, just crossing the street to get back where we had started, a truck decided to be impatient.
“I think it was completely unrelated to anything that we were there for, and it decided to jump out of line. They weren’t even the first [vehicle] at the stop and plowed into people as they were crossing.”
She claims the driver of the truck “nudged” the demonstrators at first before “deciding to do it again.”
Vanorny claims that the driver ran over a person’s foot and knocked at least three people to the ground before speeding away.
Another witness also described seeing three people the truck back during the chaos.
Police told KCRG that an injured pedestrian was interviewed on-scene and taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
The driver involved in the incident was also interviewed and detectives were working to find surveillance video, police said.
No charges had been filed and police were still working to determine if the collision was intentional as of late Friday, according to KCRG.
“Thankfully, everybody is alive and there were no life-threatening injuries by a long shot, but I think everybody’s pretty scared,” councilmember Vanorny said.
She thanked the Cedar Rapids Police Department for their quick response to the incident.
“It’s really disheartening and disgusting to me as a council member that this happened to my citizens, but I will say that my council takes this stuff very seriously. We’re not having it.
“This kind of stuff isn’t allowed in Cedar Rapids and we will make sure that this person is held accountable.
PROTESTS AROUND THE US
Protests have erupted across the country following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
The 5-4 decision will leave the issues of abortion up to state legislators, which will ultimately result in a total ban on the procedure in about half of the states.
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Huge crowds of protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court and in multiple cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and New York City.
Protests were also planned in Florida, Missouri, Georgia, and Texas.