A man was detained by police Wednesday after allegedly driving his motorcycle through a crowd blocking a San Francisco street in protest of the recently revealed GOP healthcare bill, also known as Trumpcare.
About 20 protesters, including seniors and people with disabilities, were staging a “die-in” by laying on the street outside the San Francisco Federal Building on Wednesday afternoon, CBS San Francisco reported. The man rode his motorcycle down the wrong way on Seventh Street, through the crowd, then turned and drove through the crowd again, activist Emily Lee told KRON4.
As seen in the video above, the man, identified by local media as Jeffrey Dillon, revved his engine as he drove through the activists who quickly jumped out of his way. He appeared to get very close to some individuals, but no one was injured in the incident.
San Francisco police surrounded Dillon with their guns drawn, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, before citing him for reckless driving and releasing him.
“At some point, it became clear he was going to come through the crowd and people jumped out of the way,” said Lee, a spokeswoman for Bay Resistance, one of the organizations that planned the protest.
“He was definitely targeting us,” she added. “It was unclear if it was for political reasons or if he was just mentally unstable or what, but it was terrifying.”
According to multiple reports, Dillon was the administrator of a Facebook group named “White Privilege Club,” where he reportedly posted pictures of himself with the motorcycle.
“This isn’t a racist site/group, it is the exact opposite. It is a celebration of our culture and who we are … I am proud of who I am and my people,” Dillon wrote to the group before the page was deleted on Thursday night, according to Asian-American news blog Next Shark.
“Yell ‘White Pride’ and people look at you like ive [sic] got a clan outfit on,” another post by Dillon read. “I married a slant eye import, so you know i aint [sic] racist.”
Bruce Allison, a protester who dodged Dillon’s motorcycle, told the Chronicle that Dillon had yelled during the incident, “If you want to go to the hospital, here you go,” and “You will have health care if you people stop protesting.”
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