A driver did not stop when pro-abortion activists stood in front of, and surrounded, their vehicle in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday evening.
Two protesters were reportedly struck in the incident.
Protesters appeared to be chasing the truck, while others stood in front of it to try and force the driver to stop.
Everyone seems to be okay. One woman had her foot run over. But it was terrifying.
— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) June 25, 2022
A witness who goes by Lyz Lenz said that everyone appears to be okay, but one of the protesters had her foot run over.
Lenz also posted several videos showing the incident from different angles, some of which appeared to show protesters hitting the vehicle.
This a video of a truck running down two peaceful protesters at a pro-abortion march in Cedar Rapids, Iowa pic.twitter.com/UX7xZfu8VU
— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) June 25, 2022
People can be heard shouting for the protesters to “get out of the road” and “stop doing this!”
I’m sorry. These videos are upsetting. But here is another one. pic.twitter.com/l6mr6YrlpM
— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) June 25, 2022
According to a report from CBS 2 Iowa, “Lenz claims two women were crossing the street, using a crosswalk, outside the U.S. District Court Federal Court House in Cedar Rapids, and one of them got her foot runover.”
The woman, Alexis Russell, who had her foot run over claims that the driver had “charged” into the crowd and she was trying to stop them by standing in front of the vehicle — despite being clearly much smaller than a truck.
Here’s the woman who said the truck ran over her foot at protests today in Cedar Rapids. She says the driver “charged into the crowd” and she went over to try and stop the truck.
More details: https://t.co/ukHYt8PpoF pic.twitter.com/miRyE7HDgy
— Iowa’s News Now (@iowasnewsnow) June 25, 2022
“I was over here, I turned around the light was red, and the truck got impatient for whatever reason and charged into the crowd,” Russell said. “There’s at least three people, I look over I see people trying to push the truck back, and I just instantly got mad and ran over and tried to stop the truck. I tried to stop him, he grabbed (and) ripped my sign, and push me down drove off and that was it.”
The report added, “Cedar Rapids District 5 City Councilmember Ashley Vanorney was as at the protest and says the truck was pushing and knocking people over after initially plowing into the people at the intersection at 2nd street.”
Protests remain under way in cities across the nation late Friday evening in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
The opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, asserted that Roe was “egregiously wrong” and “on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided.”
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote. “Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
Abortion laws have now been returned to the states to decide.
