NEW YORK CITY (NewsNation Now) — Video posted to social media Thursday night shows a car driving through a group of protesters in Times Square.
The clips show a vehicle honking at the crowd before speeding by as demonstrators dodge the black Ford Taurus sedan.
The New York Police Department tweeted Thursday night amid social media speculation that the car belonged to law enforcement, “This auto is NOT an NYPD vehicle.” They ask if anyone is injured to please come forward.
Reporter Gynne Hogan of WNYC Radio tweeted that no one was seriously injured. She reported that the protest continued in midtown Manhattan following the incident.
The protest was organized following the death of Daniel Prude. Prude, 41, died March 30 after he was taken off life support, seven days after Rochester police took him into custody. Prude’s family said he was suffering a mental health episode, but on the bodycam video, his brother can be heard telling the responding officer that Prude was high on PCP.
In part of the bodycam video, Prude is seen on the ground, naked and speaking incoherently. At one point, police place a mesh hood over his head, which is standard procedure when a subject is spitting. Prude appears agitated and to be spitting. Prude demands they remove the hood.
The autopsy report from the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of Prude as a homicide. It says the cause of death includes “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint due to excited delirium due to acute phencyclidine intoxication.”
Similiar protests took place today in Rochester.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced the seven officers involved in the Prude’s death have been suspended with pay.