Detroit police say officer who drove through protesters was trying to 'escape'

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.

Video of the incident posted on social media shows the cruiser with an unidentified officer behind the wheel striking numerous protesters and accelerating rapidly after at least one person became stuck on the cruiser's hood. 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.

"The officer tried to escape," the spokesperson said.

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. In that setting, NYPD officials denied that the vehicle was used as a weapon against protesters, instead contending that officers were under attack.

“The officers were set upon and attacked, and thankfully they were able to get out of that situation with, to my knowledge, no injuries to anyone," NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said.

Demonstrations have continued for weeks in cities across the U.S. over the death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who died in police custody. Floyd, who is Black, was seen on video handcuffed on the ground while a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The officer now faces second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.