Truck runs over woman's foot during Roe v. Wade protest
Cedar Rapids — Witnesses at a rally in Cedar Rapids Friday say a truck ran over a woman's foot during a peaceful pro-choice protest.
Iowa author Lyz Lenz posted a photo of the incident on Twitter Friday evening, and said everyone seems to be OK.
Lenz claims two women were crossing the street, using a crosswalk, outside the U.S. District Court Federal Court House in Cedar Rapids, and one of them got her foot runover.
She also said it was "terrifying."
Iowa's News Now has a crew on scene and spoke with the woman who was injured Friday evening.
“I was over here, I turned around the light was red, and the truck got impatient for whatever reason and charged into the crowd," said Alexis Russell who was hit by the truck. "There’s at least three people, I look over I see people trying to push the truck back, and I just instantly got mad and ran over and tried to stop the truck. I tried to stop him, he grabbed (and) ripped my sign, and push me down drove off and that was it.”
Cedar Rapids Police say one person went to the hospital following the incident. Police say a preliminary investigation shows protesters were crossing the street with the proper signal. That signal then changed, but the group was still crossing the street using the crosswalk.
Police say a verbal confrontation began between the protestors and a driver before 'contact was made between a vehicle and one of the pedestrians.'
Cedar Rapids District 5 City Councilmember Ashley Vanorney was as at the protest and says the truck was pushing and knocking people over after initially plowing into the people at the intersection at 2nd street.
Police say they will continue to investigate and collect surveillance video from the area. More information will be released when available.
Cedar Rapids mayor Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell released a statement following the incident.
Cedar Rapids is a city with a diverse population and many viewpoints. Today’s Supreme Court decision is likely to elicit strong opinions. What we must do as a city is come together, especially in times like these. The Cedar Rapids Police Department is conducting a thorough investigation into tonight’s incident. We all have a right to our opinions, but we must act in a peaceful and respectful manner.
