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| Two women injured as car drives through Seattle protest crowd | Two women injured as car drives through Seattle protest crowd |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Both women in critical condition, hospital says, while driver in custody after incident on Interstate 5 | Both women in critical condition, hospital says, while driver in custody after incident on Interstate 5 |
| Two women were struck and injured by a car whose driver sped through a protest-related closure on a freeway in Seattle, authorities said on Saturday. | Two women were struck and injured by a car whose driver sped through a protest-related closure on a freeway in Seattle, authorities said on Saturday. |
| Summer Taylor, 24 and from Seattle, and Diaz Love, 32 and from Bellingham, were in critical condition with multiple injuries, according to Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg. | Summer Taylor, 24 and from Seattle, and Diaz Love, 32 and from Bellingham, were in critical condition with multiple injuries, according to Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg. |
| The driver, Dawit Kelete, a 27-year-old man from Seattle, was in custody. A state patrol spokesman, Ron Mead, said Kelete was suspected to have driven the wrong way on a ramp. Mead said troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack. Police said impairment was not considered a factor. | The driver, Dawit Kelete, a 27-year-old man from Seattle, was in custody. A state patrol spokesman, Ron Mead, said Kelete was suspected to have driven the wrong way on a ramp. Mead said troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack. Police said impairment was not considered a factor. |
| Kelete was booked into the King County Correctional Facility at 7.24am, on two counts of vehicular assault. Bail was denied. It was not immediately clear if Kelete had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. | Kelete was booked into the King County Correctional Facility at 7.24am, on two counts of vehicular assault. Bail was denied. It was not immediately clear if Kelete had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. |
| Video of the incident, which happened at around 1.40am, was posted to social media. It showed a white car traveling at high speed navigate around two vehicles which were positioned across lanes as a barrier. The car then careened towards a small crowd of protesters on the freeway, striking two who flew into the air before landing on the ground. | Video of the incident, which happened at around 1.40am, was posted to social media. It showed a white car traveling at high speed navigate around two vehicles which were positioned across lanes as a barrier. The car then careened towards a small crowd of protesters on the freeway, striking two who flew into the air before landing on the ground. |
| Love had hosted a near-two-hour-long Facebook livestream captioned “Black Femme March takes I-5”. It ended abruptly. With about 15 seconds left, shouts of “Car!” could be heard as the camera started to shake before screeching tires and an impact could be heard. | Love had hosted a near-two-hour-long Facebook livestream captioned “Black Femme March takes I-5”. It ended abruptly. With about 15 seconds left, shouts of “Car!” could be heard as the camera started to shake before screeching tires and an impact could be heard. |
| Mark Taylor-Canfield, a journalist, told the Guardian the car had plenty of time to slow down before smashing into protesters. | Mark Taylor-Canfield, a journalist, told the Guardian the car had plenty of time to slow down before smashing into protesters. |
| “It sped up and went right into the middle of the crowd, so most of us assumed it was a purposeful attempt at vehicular homicide,” Taylor-Canfield said, adding that he had been in the adjacent lane to the protesters who were hit. | “It sped up and went right into the middle of the crowd, so most of us assumed it was a purposeful attempt at vehicular homicide,” Taylor-Canfield said, adding that he had been in the adjacent lane to the protesters who were hit. |
| Seattle has been the site of prolonged unrest following the 25 May police killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which sparked nationwide protests. Dozens of people were arrested in Seattle this week and demonstrations continue after authorities cleared the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone. | Seattle has been the site of prolonged unrest following the 25 May police killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which sparked nationwide protests. Dozens of people were arrested in Seattle this week and demonstrations continue after authorities cleared the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone. |
| Mead said on Saturday protesters had shut down the interstate for 19 days in a row. He emphasized that the freeway was “simply not a safe place” for pedestrians, and said he hoped protesters would cease what he called their “unlawful behavior”. | Mead said on Saturday protesters had shut down the interstate for 19 days in a row. He emphasized that the freeway was “simply not a safe place” for pedestrians, and said he hoped protesters would cease what he called their “unlawful behavior”. |
| “My hope is, as a result of this tragedy, protesters will reconsider their desire to be on the interstate because I cannot guarantee their safety, plain and simple,” Mead said. | “My hope is, as a result of this tragedy, protesters will reconsider their desire to be on the interstate because I cannot guarantee their safety, plain and simple,” Mead said. |
| Protesters were on the freeway for more than an hour before the car drove around the blockade around 1.36am, he said. | Protesters were on the freeway for more than an hour before the car drove around the blockade around 1.36am, he said. |
| The state patrol tweeted out two pictures of the driver’s car, a white Jaguar with significant damage to its bumper and windshield. Seattle police tweeted that they were assisting with the scene, as southbound lanes of the freeway remained closed for investigation. | The state patrol tweeted out two pictures of the driver’s car, a white Jaguar with significant damage to its bumper and windshield. Seattle police tweeted that they were assisting with the scene, as southbound lanes of the freeway remained closed for investigation. |
| Seattle’s mayor said the city stood beside the friends and family of the victims. | |
| “No one should risk their life for demanding better from our city, state and country,” Jenny Durkan wrote on Twitter. |