# Protesters pulling people from cars **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880 "2020-07-09T22:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uncrph90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/eada6e/32.png) [@Uncrph90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncrph90)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/1 "2020-07-09T22:33:00Z")
I have seen/read news reports of recent protests that have involved drivers and/or passengers in cars being pulled out of the vehicle and beaten. Absolutely no justification for that action and I condemn it. (Assuming the vehicle didn’t first hit the protesters.) But now I’m seeing some of my “friends” on social media posting memes about running down any peaceful demonstrations that hinder traffic because so many people have been pulled from their cars. My question is—how many times has this happened? Is there an accurate count of how many people have been pulled from their cars and assaulted? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/2 "2020-07-09T22:41:10Z")
Could you link to any of these news reports that you have seen? Any of them? Maybe just one. This is not something that I’ve seen, even after a relatively extensive search. By my best estimate the answer to your question is 0. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/3 "2020-07-09T22:45:15Z")
I think a better question is: has it happened? How credible/unbiased is the news source? I would believe the NYT, the LA Times, Washington Post before Fox News for instance. In the case of videos, not only consider the source but remember how easily video can be edited or faked. Social media is a treacherously unreliable news source. Pass it on. Especially if you are going to base driving into pedestrians on said sources. The judge will not look kindly on you. So, we are back to: has it happened? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/4 "2020-07-09T22:46:27Z")
Maybe I haven’t been paying attention, but I haven’t seen video footage of that happening to anyone since 1992. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/5 "2020-07-09T22:49:53Z")
> [@Uncrph90](#): > > But now I’m seeing some of my “friends” on social media posting memes about running down any peaceful demonstrations that hinder traffic because so many people have been pulled from their cars. Preventative vehicular homicide? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/6 "2020-07-09T22:54:04Z")
The beating of Reginald Denny and the start of the LA Riots. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhVzr_fOsDE) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/7 "2020-07-09T22:55:10Z")
> **[WJCT News | Jacksonville, Florida News | WJCT News](https://news.wjct.org/)** > > WJCT is the community-supported public broadcasting station for Florida's First Coast. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/8 "2020-07-09T23:01:43Z")
From that story: “Video from the scene shows the woman appearing to accelerate into a crowd of protesters.” It’s implied in the OP that, that isn’t the sort of situation they are looking for evidence of. ---
**Author:** ![Uncrph90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/eada6e/32.png) [@Uncrph90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncrph90)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/9 "2020-07-10T00:11:52Z")
Thanks. The Buffalo story is the one I had seen the headline. I didn’t read to see that she had driven into the crowd. That really justifies threatening to turn your neighbors into human speed bumps. I hate idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/10 "2020-07-10T06:37:04Z")
There was a video during the start of the current protests of protestors on a freeway in California I think smashing the drivers side windows of stopped cars, not pulling them out exactly but still deliberately messing with drivers trying to get them to either get out of their vehicles or drive through them. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/11 "2020-07-10T12:36:21Z")
So, it appears as though we have managed to come up with two examples. One from 30 years ago, at the beginning of one of the worst series of riots our country has seen. Not really recent enough to consider relevant to justify actions based on it. And the other one is from _after_ a car accelerated into the crowd, injuring people. If anything is to be learned from it, it is that committing vehicular assault is more likely to get you dragged from your car than not trying to run people down. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/12 "2020-07-10T13:26:15Z")
And we also need to distinguish between protestors doing this, and rioters doing it. Those are two different sets of people, with very little overlap. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/13 "2020-07-10T14:35:00Z")
> [@Uncrph90](#): > > Thanks. The Buffalo story is the one I had seen the headline. But you said in the OP, > [@Uncrph90](#): > > I have seen/read news reports of recent protests that have involved drivers and/or passengers in cars being pulled out of the vehicle and beaten. Have you seen other reports, or just this one you misremembered the details of? ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/14 "2020-07-10T15:10:35Z")
Locally for me protesters didn’t pull someone from their car, but shot somebody who attempted to drive on the road they were blocking: [https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/provo/protest-aftermath-police-seeking-information-regarding-shooting-hit-and-run-incidents/article\_70804b23-1aca-5931-9a00-db341c41c4eb.html](https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/provo/protest-aftermath-police-seeking-information-regarding-shooting-hit-and-run-incidents/article_70804b23-1aca-5931-9a00-db341c41c4eb.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-pulling-people-from-cars/914880/15 "2020-07-10T16:59:45Z")
The incident that probably got the most attention was the truck driver in Minneapolis who was beaten by protesters after unintentionally driving into a protest on the highway. > **[Trucker Beaten by Protesters Declines to Press Charges While Protesters Not...](https://www.transportationnation.com/trucker-who-was-beaten-by-protesters-declines-to-press-charges-officials-say/)** > > Minneapolis, MN - The protesters who pulled the driver of a semi-tanker from his truck before assaulting him on a Minneapolis intestate last weekend will not be char A man in Madison, WI, was beaten and robbed by protesters after driving into their path. He wasn’t pulled from his car; he got out after a bike was thrown at his windshield. He was a Black man who described himself as a supporter and later said he had no ill will toward the protesters. [https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/incidentreports/incident.cfm?id=26636](https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/incidentreports/incident.cfm?id=26636) > **Summary** > > This text will be hidden > **[Black man says he has no ill will after being beaten and robbed by small...](https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/black-man-says-he-has-no-ill-will-after-being-beaten-and-robbed-by-small/article_bfcdb81d-eaf8-5d9c-8c03-d95ea3b1e6c4.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1)** > > A 28-year-old Black man, who was trying to drive around protesters Tuesday, got out of his car and was beaten and robbed by several individuals. A driver in Santa Rosa, CA was punched in the face and had her windshield shattered after she drove up to a protest. There were allegations that she drove aggressively (whether in approaching or trying to leave is not clear), but the police didn’t seem to think that was the case. > **[Police Say Santa Rosa Woman Was ‘Assaulted' After Driving Into Protest Crowd](https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/north-bay/santa-rosa-woman-assaulted-after-driving-into-protest-some-claim-driver-acted-intentionally/2313457/?amp)** > > Investigators in Santa Rosa were working Sunday to sort out an incident in which a woman drove an SUV into a group of protesters, after which her vehicle was vandalized and she was punched in the face, police said. There was an incident in Louisville where protesters accosted a driver, who them hit one of them as she drove off. She wasn’t pulled from her car, but she was pursued, and one protester pointed a gun at her. She said that she was driving away in fear, because protesters had reached into her car and assaulted her, pulling out one of her dreadlocks. > **[Driver who hit protester tells police she 'feared for her life'](https://www.whas11.com/amp/article/news/local/videos-show-driver-hit-protester-in-downtown-louisville/417-0d9a05a8-72eb-4eb5-bab7-3277863c66f9)** > > The driver said protesters assaulted her, pulling out a dreadlock, before she drove off and hit a protester Wednesday morning. There were a few drivers attacked in Oakland, CA, during the first weekend of unrest, with one being injured by a thrown bottle. > **[Truck driver hurt during Oakland protests supports cause, disappointed some...](https://www.ktvu.com/news/truck-driver-hurt-during-oakland-protests-supports-cause-disappointed-some-turned-violent.amp)** > > A commercial truck driver reached out to KTVU to share his story about what happened to him when large crowds in Oakland turned out to protest the killing of George Floyd . Protesters are reportedly swarming cars in Columbus, OH, with one driver reporting that someone tried to crawl in through his sunroof. No official accounts reporting these incidents, but the article says there is some video. > **[Drivers say demonstrators are blocking downtown Columbus streets, 'swarming'...](https://abc6onyourside.com/amp/news/local/drivers-say-demonstrators-are-blocking-downtown-columbus-streets-swarming-vehicles)** > > Policing the police is something communities are trying to do across the country and here in central Ohio. But with growing calls to reform police tactics, it has a lot of officers wondering how to deal with protestors if they block roads or get... A driver in NYC was accosted and pursued after being surrounded by and then trying to back out of a group of protesters. The police said the driver panicked, and he was not charged. > **[Police: Driver panics, drives though protest in Times Square](https://abc7ny.com/amp/times-square-protest-black-lives-matter-driver-into-bicycle-hit-by-car/6306423/)** > > A motorist who panicked after his SUV was surrounded by a protest Tuesday night in Times Square was released by police with no charges filed.