A driver involved in a Tuesday night auto collision told dispatchers she needed police to come deal with a protest group that was blocking traffic on Howard Avenue in South Tampa, adding that, “I need the police here now to move these cars, because if I have to, I’m going to run over them.”
The audio—combined and streaming below—comes from four redacted 911 calls sent to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay by the Tampa Police Department.
In three of the calls, the driver of a Jeep told dispatchers that she was trying to get home from her job as a pharmacist. The driver of the Jeep also told dispatchers that she was surrounded by protesters who were yelling obscenities, hitting the other cars with their fists, taking her picture and surrounding the car. She also told the dispatcher that the protesters might not be happy with the “blue lives matter” magnet on the back of her car.
“I need the police now, I’m in trouble,” the caller told dispatchers.
The most chilling moment, however, came when the caller said, “I need the police here now to move these cars, because if I have to, I’m going to run over them.” After the dispatcher took the caller’s name, she repeated, “Like I said, if I have to now, I’m going to run over them.”
As previously reported, video from the protest shows demonstrators calmly surrounding the Jeep and encouraging the driver to make a U-turn. “We’re all trying to help you out, back up,” one protester can be heard saying to the driver of the Jeep.
In video, the Jeep is seen blocked in by a white Kia and a blue Volkswagen. Eventually the driver of the Jeep—who police have not named, likely because of a questionable constitutional amendment called Marsy’s Law—sees an opening and accelerates forward, narrowly missing protesters before being forced to come to a stop at the corner of Azeele Street and Howard Avenue. One protester tells the driver of the Jeep that she almost hit her.
A police media alert sent Tuesday night said that “As the Jeep drove forward, the driver in the Kia intentionally hit the side of the Jeep.” The auto collision resulted in TPD arresting two protesters.
One protester is charged with resisting arrest without force while another—T Munoz, who was driving a white Kia—has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment although it’s safe to say that Munoz may have been attempting to protect protesters from being hit by the Jeep.
To date, drivers in this part of South Tampa have hit protesters at least three times. In a Trump Facebook group post about Tuesday’s incidents, commenters encouraged group members to run protesters over and even “shoot em.”
Protesters in the video can be heard asking if police will also take the driver of the Jeep into custody, but the media alert said, “Updates will be provided as they become available. The investigation is ongoing.”
CL asked a TPD spokesperson if they had any comment on the caller’s suggestion that she would “run over them” if she had to. We'll update the post with any new comments.
UPDATED: 09/16/20 8:35 p.m. Updated to remove a deadname.
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This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2020.