Proudly flying our nation’s flag along with a Trump campaign banner, this driver and his three companions deliberately rammed a protester, accelerating into her intentionally and pinning her body to the hood of the jeep before–miraculously not running her down–fleeing in cowardly haste.
The driver and his cohorts are phenomenally fortunate that no harm befell the protester. But it so easily could have gone otherwise. That’s why charges should be filed against, at least, the driver. Do I think it was attempted murder? Certainly not. But it definitely was an assault of some type, and one with a deadly weapon. This woman could have lost her footing or had a bad knee–anything, really–and the outcome could truly have been dire. And there’s always hit and run. Last I looked, that is a crime.
It doesn’t matter the reasons for the protest, just as it’s immaterial the reports that the jeepsters were on hand to jeer the protesters. What matters is that a motorist attacked a pedestrian. What matters is that charges are filed against this “man.” So I call on Tulare County DA Tim Ward to do just that. And I’ll sure as hell want to know why not if he punts.
This incident is all over the internet. If nothing else, he’ll have political cover.
Protesting is a right, a tradition–how we wrested our country from the British, and often achieved change in general. Holding a drivers license is a privilege, and never includes aiming your vehicle at anyone