Many injured as crowd plows in New York protest | New York

Several people were injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd of about 50 people during a demonstration on Friday afternoon in the middle of Manhattan. New York The city police said.

The incident happened just after 4pm on the corner of 39th Street and Third Avenue east of Midtown, and the woman behind the wheel of the BMW sedan that went into the crowd was detained for questioning by law enforcement, police said.

The New York Fire Department said six people were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. Police and fire officials said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Some accounts on social media described a chaotic scene around a parked car surrounded by protesters, who knocked down some people and bicycles before the vehicle sneaked into the crowd.

In a video showing the car’s movements, a small group of protesters could be seen gathering around the car as it slowly approached an intersection, with a person leaning against the front of the vehicle. The car sped off, knocking out people who were blocking it and those at the intersection.

In another video from the opposite side, you can see people fleeing and a person throwing a ball through car barrels.

Sofia Wickerman, of Denver, Colorado, who took part in the demonstration, said the car hit a crowd and threw people and a bicycle into the air.

“I hear people screaming in front of me, I look behind me, that woman is plowing,” he said. “I see bodies flying.”

Wickerman said the march began in Times Square and aimed to draw attention to the ongoing hunger strike of immigrant prisoners in New Jersey. A Reuters photographer at the scene confirmed that the demonstration took place in solidarity with nine undocumented immigrants detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

Police and several local media outlets reported that the protest was sponsored by Black Lives Matter.