1 Dead After Car Hits 2 Seattle Protesters On Closed Freeway
One person is dead and a second remains hospitalized after a car drove onto a closed section of highway and sped into a group of people protesting against police brutality in Seattle early on Saturday.
Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle was pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center while Diaz Love, a 32-year-old from Portland, Oregon, was hospitalized in critical condition following the incident, according to a police spokesperson.
Love’s condition was later changed to serious, a hospital spokeswoman told HuffPost.
The @wastatepatrol extends our condolences to the family and friends of Summer Taylor. @wspd2pio.
— WA State Patrol (@wastatepatrol) July 5, 2020
The driver, 27-year-old Dawit Kelete of Seattle entered I-5 by swerving his car around vehicles that had been blocking the roadway around 1:40 a.m., according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press.
Graphic video of the incident shows two figures being struck by a white Jaguar sedan and thrown into the air, landing hard on the pavement.
After hitting the two people, Kelete fled the scene but was stopped by a protester who chased him down in their own vehicle, Trooper Chase Van Cleave told AP.
Kelete was described as “reserved and sullen” in court documents. He did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his arrest and he inquired about the condition of the two victims, troopers said. He was booked into the King County Correctional Facility on two counts of vehicular assault and denied bail, online records show.
Love had been live-streaming the demonstration, which was billed as “Black Femme March Takes I-5,” when the car struck, ending their stream on Facebook abruptly. In the moments before, people can be heard yelling “car” in increasingly panicked tones.
Sections of the highway have been frequently closed off because of protests, according to a local ABC affiliate.
Trooper Rick Johnson, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol, tweeted two photos of the car,...
