Bloomington police investigate cruiser that drove away after bumping protesters at crosswalk
The Bloomington Police Department (BPD) is launching an internal investigation into an incident of a Community Service Specialist (CSS) vehicle lurching toward and slowly striking at least two protesters crossing in a pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of Sixth and North Walnut streets on May 6.
The two people struck by the cruiser were part of a student-led march taking place in downtown Bloomington opposing Israel’s offensive operation in Rafah, the southernmost city on the Gaza strip where an estimated 1.4 million Gazans currently live. President Joe Biden and the United Nations have warned against the operation. They argue the operation could further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
A video of the incident posted to YouTube shows a CSS cruiser positioned between the stop line and pedestrian crosswalk as a group of at least 40 protesters crossed the street. The video does not show whether the Walnut Street traffic light was green or red at the time, but vehicles in the other lanes remain stopped throughout most of the video.
After lurching forward and making contact with a protester, Bryce Greene, an Indiana University graduate student and key organizer of the IU Divestment Coalition and Dunn Meadow encampment, stood in front of the cruiser as other pedestrians crossed.
“I stood in front of the car to discourage it from going forward, and the driver was very upset and telling me to move out of the way,” Greene said. “They just kept flooring it. It was clearly a threat that they were willing to run me over.”
After protesters cleared the sidewalk, Greene and other protesters moved away from the cruiser, and the cruiser drove through the intersection.
In a statement from the BPD, Capt. Ryan Pedigo said, “investigators immediately began checking the area for surveillance camera footage that may have captured the event.”
“Further, investigators later made contact with individuals involved in the protest that claimed to have been struck by the CSS vehicle,” the statement continues. “These individuals provided cellphone footage of the event.”
Pedigo said the investigation remains ongoing as BPD gathers footage and interviews. The internal investigation will then be reviewed by the city of Bloomington Legal Department and the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office.
Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com. Follow him on X/Twitter at @brianwritesnews.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington police launch investigation after cruiser bumps protesters
