A protester who attended a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Long Island, New York, has been charged with filing a false police report after claiming he was hit by a car.
Keith Harrison, 56, claimed he was also hit when a man drove his SUV into the marchers on Monday. The SUV attack made the news earlier in the week, and 36-year-old Anthony Cambareri has been charged with the third-degree assault for the alleged incident. A 26-year-old protester, Jeremiah Bennett, was injured in the attack, receiving injuries to his wrist, arm, and back, The Long Island Herald reported. Bennett reportedly “bounced off the hood of the vehicle” when he was struck.
Harrison said he was also injured in the attack, but an investigation determined he was not, the New York Post reported. The 56-year-old is set to appear for arraignment on July 28 in the First District Court in Central Islip.
Bennett, the man injured in the vehicle attack on Monday, wrote about the experience on Facebook, the Herald reported, explaining the vehicle sped up toward the protesters. Bennett said he and others stood their ground, thinking the driver wouldn’t actually hit them.
“This man tried to kill people with his car, and is not and will not be serving any time, because they charged him a . . . misdemeanor,” Bennett wrote on Facebook, according to the Herald. “He easily could have been charged with a B or C felony had the arresting officers chose to charge him with vehicular assault, assault in the first or second, assault with a deadly weapon, or attempted murder. And fleeing the scene of a crime.”
More from the Herald:
On July 1, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran released a set of requirements for protesters to follow. According to a statement about the guidelines, called the Free Speech Roadway Protection Protocol, they are “designed to protect residents’ right to peacefully and safely demonstrate, and ensure the safety of protestors and the general public.”
According to the requirements, protesters must not congregate in public streets or block traffic, and must not enter private property without the owner’s permission. Those who do not comply “may be subject to enforcement action,” the statement reads.
Demonstration organizers are required to identify their routes for the Nassau County Police Department’s Community Affairs Unit, at (516) 573-7360, within 24 hours of a protest.
This was not the first time a vehicle had struck Black Lives Matter protesters. On Saturday, a man drove through a group of protesters, killing 24-year-old Summer Taylor. The man driving, 27-year-old Dawit Kelete, who is black, was arrested. Kelete allegedly entered the freeway where Taylor and others were protesting via an exit ramp, driving the wrong way at a high speed before striking the protesters, The Daily Wire previously reported. Another protester, 32-year-old Diaz Love, was also injured in the incident.