A Portland police officer has been filmed dragging a Black Lives Matter protester several feet as demonstrators blocked his motorcycle after a vehicle fled a traffic stop.
Video of the incident shows protesters running up to and surrounding the officer as he talks to the driver of a vehicle he pulled over for blocking traffic. The officer tells the demonstrators to “back up” several times, and the pulled-over vehicle eventually flees the scene.
As the officer mounts his motorcycle to “disengage” with the crowd, according to police, protesters continue to surround him, with one standing directly in his path and being hit by the bike, then getting dragged several feet before falling off.
WARNING: VIDEOS BELOW MAY CONTAIN EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
Protester gets hit by Police on a motorcycle after someone speeds off while being pulled over tonight in the #PortlandProtests#PDXprotests#BlackLivesMatterpic.twitter.com/80CiP5juDW
Watch what happened when BLM-antifa rioters in Portland jumped in front of an officer on a motorcycle to stop him from chasing a fleeing suspect. #PortlandRiotspic.twitter.com/CNOuxYpfTJ
Police say protesters threw objects at the officer, and one video does appear to show a cup of liquid being thrown while the cop is attempting to leave the scene.
A motorcycle cop pulls over two vehicles that were blocking the street to protect the crowd. Protesters swarm him and both vehicles drive off. Two protesters block the motorcycle as it drives off, knocking them both to the ground. pic.twitter.com/eDM83XjZ4G
Officers approached the woman who fell to see if she needed medical attention, and arguments broke out with protesters, leading to one person being detained.
Portland Police trying to control the scene and get the person aid, the crowd is pretty hostile. #Portlandprotestspic.twitter.com/RzqG4w8Ecn
The woman who was hit by the motorcycle can be seen in another video from after the incident limping and yelling at police officers, telling them she is “going nowhere.”
Lady who was hit by the police motorcycle in my last video came back yelling at the cops who hit her. #PortlandProtests#PDXprotests#BlackLivesMatterpic.twitter.com/ZD5HBvTtIh
She was later arrested at another demonstration and taken to a hospital to be evaluated.
Some have criticized the officer who hit the demonstrator, while others have questioned painting him in a bad light, considering the protesters interfered with a traffic stop and the one who was hit blocked his vehicle.
“A PPB motorcycle cop runs over someone for sport with his vehicle,” criminal defense attorney T. Greg Doucette tweeted when sharing the footage.
9️⃣6️⃣0️⃣ Portland, OR: a PPB motorcycle cop runs over someone for sport with his vehicleThe cops are still rioting…3 October 2020 AM[@Johnnthelefty] pic.twitter.com/6uQmNyp8R1
Hey @tedwheeler does having your motorcycle cops drive over people not count as violence? What about project zero vision? Does police running over pedestrians count? https://t.co/taFLsnWzHs
Portland journalist Andy Ngo, meanwhile, was among those who strongly disagreed with the wording of a local headline which read, “Portland police officer drives motorcycle into protester at Friday night demonstration.”
“Correction: Rioter trying to stop police from following fleeing suspect jumps in front of his motorcycle. She appears to be fine as she returned to rioting in front of the police station within the hour,” Ngo wrote.
Correction: Rioter trying to stop police from following fleeing suspect jumps in front of his motorcycle. She appears to be fine as she returned to rioting in front of the police station within the hour. https://t.co/9o3vRUGUwm
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