Car Runs Through Black Lives Matter Protesters In New York's Times Square [Video]

Car-ramming attacks against people protesting police brutality and calling for racial justice continue with the latest incident occurring in New York City's famed Times Square on Thursday evening.

At least one person was injured when a dark-colored sedan intentionally drove into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters decrying the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man, at the hands of officers of the Rochester (N.Y.) Police Department.

Video of Prude's death released earlier Thursday triggered the latest round of street demonstrations. Prude died March 23 of suffocation after one police officer placed a "spit sock" over his head and several officers pinned him to the ground.

Police body cam video of his death was released by his family's lawyers. The seven officers of the Rochester Police Department were later suspended for their roles in Prude's death. Prude's family said he was suffering from mental health problems when he was arrested naked by the police.

The ramming incident occurred at Times Square shortly past 5 p.m. EST in pouring rain, according to NPR. The car hit several people on foot and others on bicycles. Video of the incident was captured by several demonstrators and posted to Twitter and other social media sites.

One Twitter video shows a sedan honking several times before rolling into a crowd of people standing in front of it. People scream; others fall to the ground and others are pushed aside. The car escapes and no one has been arrested.

A number of incidents where cars plowed into protesters appear to be intentional. These incidents began to increase in number during street protests against the murder of George Floyd last May in Minneapolis.

There were at least 17 documented cases where vehicle drivers rammed their cars, SUVs and trucks into protesters during the first week of the George Floyd protests. It isn't clear if the drivers of these vehicles were just angry at protestors who insulted them, or maybe for blocking the roads.

Their suspicions are founded on the fact white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. shared memes about intentionally driving his car into protesters at Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug. 11, 2017. His attack killed protestor Heather Heyer and injured 19 other people. Fields committed this horrific crime during the Unite the Right rally.

“It’s being used as a weapon to bulldoze human bodies," said Chinyere Tutashinda, director of the BlackOut Collective. “I think we’ve definitely seen an increase of [vehicle rammings] happening at protests. They’re very scary and concerning. I can’t help but get a stark reminder of what happened in Charlottesville."

BuzzFeed News has listed down 17 of these ramming incidents. All of these incidents made it to Twitter and all have either videos or photos of the event.