Protest over Tacoma police officer driving through crowd culminates in property damage
Jan 24, 2021, 10:09 PM | Updated: Jan 25, 2021, 11:13 am
A large crowd of protesters gathered in downtown Tacoma on Sunday night in response to an incident in the same area where a police officer drove through a crowd of street racers. Two people were hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries as a result of Saturday’s incident.
Tacoma police car seen driving into crowd at street race downtown
As the crowd moved through Tacoma on Sunday, some people smashed windows, burned a garbage can, and spray-painted on buildings. Police ordered the group to disperse as they moved in around the Pierce County courthouse.
Tacoma protest underway. pic.twitter.com/oOtJjK4Jzg
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) January 25, 2021
“We want to see the officer actually fired and charged,” one lifelong Tacoma resident holding a Defund TPD sign told The Seattle Times. “Paid vacation isn’t a punishment.”
The scene in downtown #Tacoma as @TacomaPD start to move back crowd of 100+ demonstrators who’ve been protesting for several hours one day after officer drove through crowd of people at reported street race that had surrounded his vehicle @KIRORadio pic.twitter.com/1iui02eORp
— Hanna Scott (@HannaKIROFM) January 25, 2021
KIRO Radio’s Hanna Scott reported damage to bail bonds storefronts “and a handful of other places,” although “many in the crowd did not seem to support the destruction.”
The Tacoma News Tribune reports that two people were arrested for allegedly attempting to illegally access a rooftop near the protest.
Meanwhile, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards issued a statement Sunday, promising the incident that saw a police officer drive through a crowd “is being taken very seriously.”
“I, too, am deeply saddened by what we saw,” she said.
The officer who was behind the wheel of the vehicle is reportedly on administrative leave now, and the Pierce County Force Investigation Team treating the incident like a deadly use of force.
