(CD) — A man believed to be a prison guard drove his truck into a crowd of Jewish protesters demonstrating Wednesday night against Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside of a Rhode Island detention center.
Video footage of the incident, posted online by Jewish advocacy group Never Again Action, showed demonstrators scrambling to get out of the truck driver’s path as he attempted to force his way through the crowd, which was blocking the entrance to Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island.
The facility is privately run and has a contract with ICE.
“It certainly appeared he was trying to hit us,” Amy Anthony, spokesperson for Never Again Action, told the Washington Post.
Watch:
According to Never Again Action, at least one demonstrator was “run over” by the driver, but severity of any injuries resulting from the incident is unclear as of this writing.
The driver was ultimately able to enter the detention facility after Wyatt guards pepper sprayed activists who surrounded the truck chanting “Shame!”
“The police just stood by and did nothing as we were run over and then sprayed by detention center guards,” Never Again Action tweeted.
BREAKING: Here is HD video of an ICE guard driving his truck into us as we sat peacefully blocking the Wyatt Detention Center.
We’re putting our bodies on the line because we see the camps and the roundups. We’ve learned from our ancestors: NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE. pic.twitter.com/KnOu5xoOEb
— ✡️ Never Again Action ✡️ (@NeverAgainActn) August 15, 2019
Never Again Action said it will not be deterred by attempts to use violence to crush peaceful demonstrations against ICE abuses.
“We will not let violence stop us,” the group tweeted. “Tonight we experienced a tiny sample of the violence ICE uses on our immigrant neighbors every day. We’ll be back.”
