3 Protesters Injured in Casper Demonstration When Pickup Loses Control [VIDEO]
Be advised, this video contains some profanity.
Wednesday's largely peaceful demonstration in the wake of George Floyd's death had a frightening moment when a pickup truck full of protesters careened out of control and threw several passengers to the ground, injuring three of them.
Police say their injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.
A green GMC carrying at least 10 people in both the cab and bed had been driving slowly along with the crowd of over 100 people as they moved from downtown Casper on Second Street to the east side Walmart. The crowd turned around, briefly blocked the intersection at Wyoming Boulevard as police directed traffic, and then kept moving after several moments of police asking them to do so.
As the crowd passed Conwell Street in front of Wyoming Medical Center, the pickup truck can be seen on video suddenly accelerating, throwing the people who'd been riding in its bed to the pavement.
The truck swerved to the left, into the oncoming lanes of traffic, and bounced off of a concrete wall in front of Wyoming Medical Center. It then veered back to the right, jumped the elevated median, clipped a police cruiser and continued into Conwell Park, where it hit a tree and came to rest.
K2 Radio News reporters observed the driver, who was distraught and told police that she had lost control of the vehicle and had no idea what caused it to suddenly accelerate.
After the incident, about a dozen police officers donned riot gear and followed behind the crowd, which continued peacefully toward downtown. Captain Steve Schultz told K2 Radio News that the injuries meant things had gone too far and it was time for the demonstration to end.