Protesters say car intentionally ran through crowd during Hwy. 101 march, call for charges
Two drastically differing versions of events have emerged regarding just what occurred Tuesday in an incident between protesters on Highway 101 and a driver who pushed through the crowd.
The CHP says that during the shutdown of Hwy. 101 in San Luis Obispo, demonstrators became violent and circled around a sedan that was attempting to get by them. According to the CHP account, the driver sped off after one protester jumped on the hood and another smashed the rear window with a skateboard.
San Luis Obispo police noted that a 4-year-old boy sitting in the backseat had glass shattered on him.
Several eyewitness reports and a few seconds-long videos on social media, however, tell a different story, and protesters say it was the driver who acted aggressively, cursing at them and hitting one as he forced his way through.
On Wednesday, the CHP asked the public for help in identifying the protesters who were involved, but in the process left out crucial information in its account when compared to other accounts.
The protester involved in the collision, in fact, says he did not jump but was instead struck by the car, landing on its hood as it tried to speed away.
Sam Grocott said that shortly after the confrontation with the driver, he provided his name and number to a CHP officer about 100 feet ahead of the protest line while inquiring how to file a complaint against the man, he told The Tribune.
Officers at the scene allowed the motorist to drive off after speaking with officers, witnesses said. The Tribune has not been able to reach the driver.
“Looking back, I was very shrugged off. I felt like I’d just been hit by a car,” Grocott said. “If both parties are there, I’d think they would want to take more time to fill out an incident report.”
Still, the CHP in its news release Wednesday called Grocott a “suspect” who “attacked” the driver and asked for help identifying him, as well as the protester who wielded the skateboard.
Grocott says he still hasn’t heard back from the CHP after giving his name, and wonders now whether he’ll be arrested if he contacts them.
A spokesman for the agency said Thursday he was unaware of any interaction with someone who matched the description of Grocott but would check with the investigative division.
Tuesday’s event started at Mitchell Park an involved about 300 people who formed a marched from downtown to the highway and back to the park, where SLOPD officers arrested Tianna Arata, one of the protest organizers. The arrest was described by peacekeepers as an “ambush.”
Arata was arrested on suspicion of inciting a riot, false imprisonment, and other charges, and released from County Jail without bail early the next morning. She has not been charged.
Protesters say driver intentionally drove into crowd
The most contentious moment of the march occurred when participants left city streets and headed onto Highway 101 at about 7 p.m., blocking dozens of cars who were caught between the group and police traffic diversion efforts.
With the head of the group near the Olive Street off-ramp shortly after protesters entered the highway, several motorists yelled profanities at the group and revved their engines, while others were supportive, protesters said.
Multiple witnesses at the march told The Tribune that the driver of a BMW sedan had been trying to get around the group while cursing at them and brake-checking marchers. At one point, the driver drove onto the shoulder and into a crowd that included Grocott and others.
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“He just gunned it,” Grocott said. “Next thing I know, I’m on the man’s hood, holding onto the back of his hood by his windshield wipers as he’s just flying down the street.”
Grocott held onto the rear edge of the hood until an unidentified member of the group struck the back windshield with a skateboard, shattering it, several witnesses told The Tribune. After the window was broken, the BMW paused long enough for Grocott to roll off before it sped away, he said.
No witness who spoke to The Tribune reported seeing a child in the car, which had its front driver-side window down, video shows.
Video also shows protesters screaming as it appears several people are struck by the BMW, which drives away with a smashed back window.
County resident Cori Ramsay, who was marching within feet of the BMW and witnessed the incident, said the driver of the BMW was lifting out of his seat and yelling profanities at the crowd, revving his engine and slamming on the brakes.
“Nobody touched his car, nobody had their hands on his car, we weren’t even speaking to him,” Ramsay said. “Then he just went for it and slammed his foot on the gas pedal.”
Asked about the police version of events, Ramsay and others present said there’s no question one protester hit the rear window of the car in retaliation for the driver striking Grocott, and to cause the car to stop.
But members of the group say Grocott never “jumped on the hood,” as the CHP alleged, and said that the BMW driver should be charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
“You hit someone with your vehicle, they’re going to end up on your hood — it’s just physics,” Ramsay said.
Grocott said Wednesday that he was still super sore in his right knee and thighs and was considering seeking medical attention if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tribune has not been able to verify the identity of the driver.
Protester calls police version of events ‘copaganda’
County resident Bryant Keith Bayhan, who witnessed the Highway 101 incident, posted a detailed description of the event that mirrors that recounted to The Tribune by protesters.
Via Facebook, Bayhan told the Tribune that officers never bothered to interview any of the protesters hit by the BMW and only spoke to the driver.
He called the official story given to the media “copaganda.”
“They think that if they target their media message to be in line with conservative media coverage of the protests (calling them ‘riots,’ ‘violent,’ etc.) then they can get public opinion on their side and they can go back to brutalizing us in the streets,” Bayhan wrote.
He continued: “The police’s narrative is dangerous because by arresting protesters for ‘participating in a riot,’ but not arresting the multiple drivers who tried to use their vehicles to kill us, they are encouraging the kind of vigilante justice which police in America have relied on throughout our history to control any population who resists white supremacy.”
He added that the protest Tuesday was in part fueled by remarks by county Sheriff Ian Parkinson earlier this month to the North County Tea Party denigrating the Black Lives Matter protests as being primarily about “destruction.”
“Parkinson says that systemic racism doesn’t exist in SLO, yet out of the 300 people who took part in the recent protest (most of whom are white), Dan Dow and (SLO Police Chief Deanna) Cantrell specifically targeted one of the black leaders,” Bayhan wrote. “The only two people arrested at the protest by SLOPD were both (black and indigenous people of color), yet the drivers have the support of the police.”
“SLOPD needs to condemn attempts at vehicular murder from the public as dangerous vigilantism,” he said.
Peacekeeper says good protests ‘make people feel uncomfortable’
Across social media, the SLO protesters’ decision to block Highway 101 has drawn criticism even from supporters of the protests, who say impeding traffic damages the cause.
Quinn Brady, who has helped organize past protests and was chief among a team of peacekeepers aimed at de-escalating any conflicts at Tuesday’s event, said Thursday that blocking traffic and causing slight delays in people’s day is a historic means of protest, and protected under the First Amendment.
A highway is not a comfortable place for protesters or motorists to be stopped, she said, and feeling vulnerable is the point.
“These young people are marching for their lives — It’s going to be loud. It’s going to make people feel uncomfortable,” Brady said. “Hopefully that will make us all reflect on the 400 years of oppression the black and brown community has felt at the hands of a racist system and law enforcement.”
Brady said she has been blocked in her vehicle by a march in the past with her children in the car, and she took the opportunity to explain to them why people were protesting.
She recommends that motorists who find themselves suddenly in the path of a march simply stay put and not try to navigate through them.
“Stay in your vehicle, and everyone will be by you in a few minutes,” she said. “And please, stay calm.”
Second altercation occurred downtown
The altercation on Highway 101 was not the only incident Tuesday between a driver and protesters.
A second confrontation occurred later downtown, with accounts of what occurred varying significantly in that case as well.
On Wednesday, the San Luis Obispo Police Department issued a news release seeking the identity of a driver they called a victim of vandalism.
The department released drone video footage that they said showed protesters surround a vehicle before Arata struck it with a flag pole.
The video shows the vehicle stopped at an intersection with several protesters gathered in front. It then turns right directly into a handful of marchers, seemingly dragging someone briefly on the hood.
A person, identified by police as Arata, is seen in the video swinging a flag at the vehicle and appearing to hit it once as the car speeds off.
Staff Writer Mackenzie Shuman contributed to this article.
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 7:04 PM.
