https://youtube.com/watch?v=UOklIJWEkhI
Demonstrators against the acquittal of George Zimmerman blocked a Houston freeway during their protest on Monday, and they apparently tried to stop a car from going around the roadblock in order to get to the local children’s hospital.
Jennifer Bauer of Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reported that on Monday night shortly after 7 p.m., protestors gathered on the freeway and held up vehicle traffic for approximately 15 minutes. Among those held up was a woman named Georgia, who asked KPRC to omit her last name. Georgia was en route to Texas Children’s Hospital with her daughter and her granddaughter, age 7, who was suffering an allergic reaction to medication. When their black Ford Explorer reached the crowd on the highway, the daughter attempted to drive around; Georgia recounted, “They were screaming and hollering and surrounding us and beating on the car. It wasn’t peaceful. It was terrifying.”
Her daughter explained what happened next: “And my mom rolled down the window and said we’re trying to get my granddaughter to the hospital, and a guy just started hitting her, so I floored it.” A KPRC camera on a nearby overpass captured the interaction; Georgia has filed a police report. A member of the family also took a cell phone picture, included in the video above, of an ambulance with its lights flashing surrounded by protestors.
The station reached local community activist Quanell X, who organized yesterday’s demonstration; according to KPRC’s Bauer, “He told us that he did think the protest was peaceful, in his opinion. He says he also specifically told protestors not to break any laws, not to touch anyone, or harm anyone.”