A car plowed through a crowd of protesters gathered at New York City's Times Square to express anger over the recently released bodycam footage of the arrest of Daniel Prude, a black man who was killed while being arrested by Rochester police officers in March.
The video footage showed officers placing a hood over Prude's head before pinning him to the ground, kneeling over his back and pushing his face into the pavement until he stopped breathing. He died a week later in the hospital.
Video footage shared on social media shows a dark sedan with tinted windows honking several times before ramming into the crowd of people standing in front of the vehicle. The car then speeds away from the scene, leaving a chorus of screaming people in its wake. Thankfully no one was severely injured in the incident.
2013 Ford Taurus Police Interceptor
Not long after the video surfaced, social media users shared screenshots of the vehicle's license plate, which allowed others to identify it as a 2013 Ford Taurus Police Interceptor, a law enforcement variant of the flagship sedan by the American automobile manufacturer.
Push Body Bumper With Police Sticker
Another user pointed out that the vehicle had a push body bumper with what appears to be a police sticker on it.
While there is a possibility that the Ford Taurus may have been re-sold to a private citizen in an auction, users are convinced that the car was an unmarked police vehicle, particularly when there is video footage of the same make and model being used by law enforcement in Times Square previously.
NYPD Issues Statement
In the wake of the incident and subsequent allegations that it was a police vehicle, the New York Police Department (NYPD) posted a tweet stating that the car was not an NYPD vehicle. "There is an ongoing investigation into an incident in Times Square involving a black Taurus sedan. This auto is NOT an NYPD vehicle," the tweet read.
However, a clip showeds several NYPD police officers appearing to protect the vehicle and its occupants moments before the car drove through protesters.
