Detroit police said Monday that an officer who was seen on camera striking roughly a dozen protesters with a police cruiser was attempting to escape a crowd that it said had turned violent.
Other protesters were seen attempting to stop the cruiser physically while others yelled at the driver.
A spokesperson for the Detroit Police Department told The Detroit News that the cruiser's rear window had been "busted out" by demonstrators.
Damage to the police cruiser as described by the department is not seen or heard in the video before the first protesters are struck by the vehicle.
Detroit is just the latest city where a police vehicle has been seen driving though a group of protesters.
In New York City in late May, a police cruiser was seen driving into a crowd of protesters.
The New York Police Department determined that the officer driving the cruiser did not violate the department's use-of-force policy. »