A Truck Drove Through A Columbus Day Protest And Ran Over A Shitload Of Protesters

Full video:

Reno Gazette-Journal – The incident occurred under the Reno Arch where a group of around 40 protesters gathered. The protesters were part of a group protesting the observance of Columbus Day, Quanah Brightman, executive director of United Native Americans Inc., said after the protest. Protesters were also speaking out against the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.

Brightman said a large group of protesters had stopped under the Reno Arch when two men in a white Nissan pickup truck stopped just before the crosswalk.

Several photos show the crowd of protesters surrounding the truck. The video shows the driver approach the protesters and then the group crowded around the truck. The protesters and the driver exchange heated words. The driver then drives his truck through the crowd before leaving the scene.

The group had stopped under the arch for a photo. According to Brightman, the driver had been “stalking” the group.

“This is a hate crime,” Brightman said. “It’s still brutal to see this kind of racism in America. That man deserves life (in prison) for what he did.”

First of all let’s state the obvious since thankfully no one got seriously hurt: Only a monster would run over a group of protesters or even joke about it, we all agree there. But no one has had a bigger swing in how pockets of the country think about them than Christopher Columbus. As a kid we grew up being taught Columbus was the dude who found America, did the hard work of getting the ball rolling for us all. Then as an Italian-American, I’ve seen so much Columbus love from people because he’s probably our most famous Italian person who isn’t normally tied to organized crime or shoving processed Italian foods into cans like that traitor Boyardee. But now we’re all supposed to hate him after literal centuries of programming because he may have “committed mass genocide” or “stole land from a group of indigenous people.” Out of all the overly PC things society asks people to adapt to in 2016, Columbus is one of the toughest.

Plus if this guy is a big Columbus aficionado, what better way to honor him on his big day than unilaterally steamrolling groups of Native Americans? I mean, again, awful guy treating human beings as nothing more than disposable and diverse speed bumps….but it is as Columbus Day appropriate as anything else you could do. Factual accuracy has to count for something.