A bicycle rider was repeatedly rammed by the driver of a large SUV at the No Kings rally and march on Saturday. Footage uploaded to Reddit by user HughAnnus shows the driver of a late model Range Rover attempting to drive northbound on SW 2nd just after Alder. The bicycle rider is wearing a yellow hi-viz vest and appears to have been a volunteer corker for the march.
As you can see in the video (below), the cyclist remained calm throughout the incident. After being rammed and having their bicycle go under the SUV’s front grill, the cyclist simply picks their bike back up and returns to their post. Several bystanders approached the scene and began to address the driver, film, and shout out the license plate. A photo of the driver and the license plate was posted to social media.
The person who shot this video says the woman rammed the cyclists another time before they began filming. They also say the police responded and let the driver go. This was due in large part because, “Biker was okay and didn’t push it with the cops,” the person shared on their Reddit post.
Portland Police Bureau Public Information Officer Mike Benner told BikePortland today that they are not currently pursuing this case. “The Incident Management Team overseeing this event was not made aware of this,” Benner shared. “Perhaps due to what the post suggests – the cyclist not wanting to press charges. If the cyclist has a change of heart and wants to move forward with a case, PPB would be open to reviewing this incident further.”
UPDATE, 3:17 pm: I’ve received an additional video clip from another witness and have not posted a longer video. The new clip shows a PPB Liaison Officer (special unit trained for dialogue and deescalation at protests) talking to the driver. In the video, the officer tells the driver she can either park and wait and that no matter what she does she will probably have to wait. At one point the cyclist interjects to say, “Do not endanger peoples’ lives.” The driver then responds, flippantly, with, “You know what, go give a speech to someone else.” As the woman drives away, the cyclist can be heard questioning why the officer didn’t give her a citation. “That’s pretty fucked up,” the cyclist says upon realizing the officer doesn’t plan to issue a citation.
UPDATE, 4:22 pm: After viewing the second clip where the cyclist requests that the officer cite the driver, I reached back out to PPB for clarification about why the officer chose to not cite. Here’s what the PPS spokesperson said:
“PPB understands the intention of people who want to help facilitate a march, in this case the cyclist, but it is not safe for someone to put themselves in harm’s way in front of a moving vehicle which is what our officer witnessed. As the video shows, our officer spoke with both the cyclist and driver and de-escalated the situation, allowing the driver to find an alternate route and the cyclist to return to the march. The officer then continued their role in facilitating a march that drew tens of thousands of people into the city.”
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Two key updates after I received an additional video clip:
UPDATE, 3:17 pm: I’ve received an additional video clip from another witness and have not posted a longer video. The new clip shows a PPB Liaison Officer (special unit trained for dialogue and deescalation at protests) talking to the driver. In the video, the officer tells the driver she can either park and wait and that no matter what she does she will probably have to wait. At one point the cyclist interjects to say, “Do not endanger peoples’ lives.” The driver then responds, flippantly, with, “You know what, go give a speech to someone else.” As the woman drives away, the cyclist can be heard questioning why the officer didn’t give her a citation. “That’s pretty fucked up,” the cyclist says upon realizing the officer doesn’t plan to issue a citation.
UPDATE, 4:22 pm: After viewing the second clip where the cyclist requests that the officer cite the driver, I reached back out to PPB for clarification about why the officer chose to note cite. Here’s the PPS spokesperson said:
I haven’t asked any bike folks about this, but I have wondered about folks who cork for permitted events like this, where the cops are closing roads and blocking them with cones and their vehicles.
I sure hope the cyclist has a change of heart once the shock of being attacked by a multi-ton weapon fades. Best wishes that they will be okay!
Thank you, corker, for maintaining calm while putting your body as well as your bike on the line. This driver was clearly intending to use their large vehicle as a weapon, and while I respect the corker’s decision not to press charges, it underscores how much American culture normalizes the danger that huge SUVs and other motorized vehicles create in the hands of motorists like this person. The fact that the police have documentation of this intentional, violent behavior but will do nothing about it speaks volumes.
Perhaps someone trained in criminal law can answer this question (note I am asking for someone with relevant expertise, not just opinions): If I took a gun and shot at a stranger in public but missed them, and the incident was captured on video, would the police say they could not hold me accountable if the person I shot at chose not to press charges?
Any idea why “HughAnnus” was in front of the car to start with?
Looks like he was attempting to block the car from proceeding. Was the road closed? Were there signs indicating the road was closed? Did the driver understand why he was blocking their path? Was it communicated to the driver what was happening? Of course it looks very dangerous what the driver did— moving forward into Mr “HughAnnus”….I wonder if he doesn’t want to press charges because there is more to the story? He will have to give out his real name to authorities if he changes his mind and wants that to happen though. HughAnnus….LOL.
What difference does any of this make?
You think car drivers can just run over people whether they are in the road blocking it or not?
Can drivers run over jay walking pedestrians just because they are in the road possibly illegally? Are you insane?
You have to quit trying so hard to be a dick.
Do you even ride, Angus? I ask because your comment comes across as someone who has zero understanding of how it feels to be threatened by a 4+ ton machine being driven by a raging driver.
People in cars really think they’re invulnerable…but if the cyclist had the gall to smack her hood with an open palm, you know the driver would have demanded the police arrest him. Such fragile little snowflakes, she was probably in a hurry to get home and watch Fox News
The road doesn’t appear closed as a silver sedan zips right past the Range Rover in the adjacent lane.
Even if you don’t place any value on the well-being of another person or their property, it still takes an incredible amount of entitlement, anger and/or cluelessness to risk scratching a vehicle that costs $80-$130K and is notoriously expensive to repair.
What was he blocking her from? It doesn’t seem like he’s corking for protestors ahead b/c right at the beginning of the video another vehicle goes by at 15-20 mph. Looks like he’s just blocking the parking spot, but that seems weird? Definitely missing some context.
And before everyone jumps on me: of course she shouldn’t attack him with her car. Obviously that’s wildly inappropriate and she deserves consequences. And, super curious the context to understand what was going on.
In addition to cars that can’t speed, we need cars that can’t ram things. We can do this, we have the technology.
Lmao you can literally hit someone with your car in front of a cop with no consequences, sick, how is vision zero going?
Oh the Reddit poster is HughAnnus not the bike guy! 🙂 Sorry Mr Bike Guy and I’m vey glad you weren’t injured by what looks to be an elderly ,confused and panicked driver in the wrong. If that road was truly closed to protect protestors I’m surprised the DIY internet detectives aren’t also going after the driver that zipped right by the Range Rover at second 4 in the video.
If a driver had done this to an ice agent or a police officer they would have shot the driver.
Regardless:
In Oregon, using your car as a weapon is illegal even if no one is injured. Under state law, a car can be considered a “deadly or dangerous weapon” if it is used in a manner that is capable of causing death or serious physical injury. This can lead to serious felony charges.
Even without physical injury, an individual can be charged with crimes like:
Unlawful Use of a Weapon: This charge applies if a person “attempts to use unlawfully against another” a dangerous or deadly weapon. The law considers it an act of “use” to threaten immediate harm, not just to cause injury.
Menacing: A person commits the crime of menacing if they, “by word or conduct, intentionally attempt to place another person in fear of imminent serious physical injury”. Using a vehicle to threaten someone’s safety, such as by swerving toward them, could result in this charge.
Recklessly Endangering Another Person: This is a Class A misdemeanor for “recklessly engaging in conduct which creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person”. Driving a vehicle in a dangerously aggressive manner toward another person would meet this standard.
Example legal precedent
A key Oregon case, State v. Ziska, clarified that threatening someone with a weapon is considered “using” it under the law, even without physical contact. Though the case involved a crowbar, the legal principle applies to any object—including a car—that can be used as a weapon. This precedent shows that the threat of harm is sufficient for a criminal charge.