(Still from video by Kenya Robinson/YouTube)
One month after we posted a call for witnesses of a collision during a pro-Trump rally in downtown Portland on August 29th, someone has stepped forward with a video that shows much more context around the incident.
The most widely-viewed video clip of the incident that we shared initially was taken by Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos. Unfortunately it only showed the moments after the driver of a BMW ran over a person’s bicycle at the intersection of SW Washington and 13th.
Now a witness has found cell-phone video posted on YouTube that shows the incident from its outset and the resulting scene on the street. The video was captured by someone named Kenya Robinson who lives on the adjacent block. The collision occurs at around 4 minutes and 17 seconds in Robinson’s video.
In the video you can see someone who appears to intentionally place their bicycle in the crosswalk directly in front of the driver’s BMW SUV. A second or two later the driver accelerates right into the bike and the person. The bicycle owner’s wrist was injured as they moved out of the way, but their bicycle was slammed to the ground and dragged several yards by the driver. The driver then stops and is approached by a Portland Police Officer. The video shows the driver’s face (and license plate number) clearly as onlookers watch the stop take place.
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“It’s crazy. Cops ain’t doin’ nothin’. This man literally ran over his bike on purpose and almost ran him over.”
— Kenya Robinson in YouTube video
As police get involved and contact the driver, Robinson (who is Black and I’m assuming is the one taking the video) yells at the police to, “Shoot him in the back! Shoot him 7 times like y’all do us! Put your knee on his neck!” Several people get angry because they think the police don’t do enough to respond to the driver’s dangerous actions. “It’s crazy. Cops ain’t doin’ nothin’. This man literally ran over his bike on purpose and almost ran him over,” Robinson says.
Another woman on the scene (who is also Black) spoke directly to nearby officers and said, “This mother fucker tried to kill somebody and he’s sitting in his car still and y’ all looking at me like I’m the issue?!”
A few minutes later the BMW driver drove off.
The victim’s lawyer is in possession of this video and continues to build their case.
Intentional vehicular violence is nothing new in Portland or America, but it has risen sharply during recent racial justice protests. Two weeks ago a woman was struck and injured by a pick-up truck driver in Hollywood, California during a protest following a ruling in the Breonna Taylor case.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis went so far as to introduce a bill that would absolve drivers of vehicular assault if they could prove they were “fleeing for safety from a mob.”
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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