18 thoughts on “Short Take: A Litmus Test Video

  1. Jonathan Rabbitt

    A couple of points:

    1. Prius wasn’t exactly “plowing into a crowd”; and
    2. is vigilante justice considered an OK response now?

  2. Eddie Harrington

    What exactly did the Prius driver do wrong? He definitely didn’t plow into the crowd. That guy showed incredible restraint. If I’m driving that Prius, it would have been a lot worse.

  3. Richard Parker

    The driver of the Prius surrendered peacefully and was not beaten, shot, or gassed. It is there a lesson somewhere?

  4. Hal

    My take is in keeping w/ Br’er Rabbitt’s (sorry, but I couldn’t resist).

    The protesters were blocking traffic and the Prius drove through them in what appeared to be a careful manner. It certainly didn’t seem to be an effort to injure anyone.

    The pursuit seemed unreasonable/ unjustified and IMO (IANAL) turns into assault.

  5. Chris Van Wagner

    Welcome to my/our daily nightmare. I worry this will be me. The Prius driver did things carefully enough to escape a mob without obvious harm to anyone. He didn’t drive like a bat out of hell after escaping. He drove away the 2nd time almost too late. My Q’s: Why an open window? Why arrested (if he was)?

  6. John Barleycorn

    Well esteemed one, in 2011 Toyota USA asked the US public to decide on what the most proper plural form of Prius should be.

    It was multiple choice:

    Prien
    Prii
    Prium
    Prius
    Priuses

    Prii prevailed to the chagrin of Latin purists.

    Therein is the answer to your question.

    P.S. How much does it cost to rent a helicopter hanger in LA?

  7. Crum Petree

    Something not often seen in videos like this is how the protesters appear to step aside somewhat as the Prius goes through, rather than throw themselves on the hood like a Hollywood stuntman. Perhaps they were wary from a previous incident. It appears that he intended to sneak through with the hope that the people standing in the street would have the common sense to make way, naive as that expectation may be nowadays. Nobody was hurt. Why would they be, if everyone in the video adhered to the norms of polite social intercourse. Something that’s expected of drivers, but apparently not the protesters.
    Except their righteous anger and indignation wasn’t because anybody was hurt. It’s because the driver didn’t stop and do what he was told by people who unilaterally decided that they had absolute control of the street. How dare he.

  8. Scarlet Pimpernel

    I think I may have failed the test.

    My thought watching the video and seeing a Prius drive through the protesters, only to be chased down by a pickup truck flying the american flag, was that it must be a Proud Boys rally. Who knew that not all Prius drivers were tree hugging, hippy automatons and BLM protesters could be f’ the environment types driving big ole gas guzzling pickup trucks.

  9. KP

    Are you sure it was America and not South Africa? Y’know, the main pillar of democracy and order, the leading light of Western civilisation??

    I’m disappointed there wasn’t a gunshot when the thug stuck his head into the car window.

  10. Quinn Martindale

    I’d describe it as the driver forcing his way through a crowd blocking the street followed by a truck chasing down the driver and forcing it to stop, and some of the crowd assaulting the driver and car before the car gets away. Based on the video, the initial confrontation could have been easily avoided by the driver and the crowd and the truck dramatically escalated the level of violence without any cause.

  11. C. Dove

    In other circumstances and with other players, CDLs might describe this as “contempt of cop.” But without more, I suppose the answer to the question (“What happened?”) boils down to who’s take feels better. That is, did the driver “ram” protesters, have an urgent or arguably legit need to proceed forward (nature calls / Uber eats) meaning the driver was uncouthly impatient, or was the driver fleeing for their live?

    Since your question strikes me as rhetorical, the answer in kind must be “It depends,” which, for the uninitiated, is law-talkin’ speak for “I dunno.”

  12. Rengit

    The first thing that came to mind watching this, from the truck with people loaded in the back chasing down someone they believed to have committed a crime in order to make an ad hoc “citizen’s arrest”: the Ahmaud Arbery incident. Thankfully this didn’t result in a completely senseless killing the way that one did. Irrespective of politics, it always looks ugly when a gang of people who aren’t professional police, and are also often armed, surround and cut off an individual who is trying to get away from those who are pursuing him. It almost always goes poorly for the individual as the gang gets carried away, and sometimes for the people mobbing as well when they meet more resistance than expected.

    Leave making an arrest to the police: for as much deserved criticism as they get, they operate with a lot more restraint, professionalism, and alignment with the law than non-police do.

  13. delurking

    In the first link in the post, there is another video that shows that the prius was moving at walking speed when someone from the right side cam up to it and started pounding on the hood and windshield with his fist. Then some people in front of the car get out of its way, but someone else steps in front of it at about the time more people start hitting and kicking the car.

    It is interesting that the anti-prius tweet shows a video that puts the driver in a better light that the pro-prius tweet.

  14. Lee Keller King

    My first thought was “I’m glad I traded my Honda Civic for a CRV.” Stronger bumper and more ground clearance.

    I have seen an analysis of that happened based on one commenter’s study of all available video. His take is that the pickup truck was pre-staged to do just what it did – chase someone down and administer “street justice.” I supposed it could have just been an instance of a pickup truck full of “peaceful protesters” in the right place at the right time, but who knows?

    I do know that if this had been in Texas (or any other “shall issue” state), it could have ended very poorly for the guys who chased down the Prius to deliver a whupping to the driver who had the temerity to try and drive down a public street. (And yes, even some Prius drivers have concealed carry licenses in Texas).

    These people are going to keep playing these stupid games and end up shot or dead.

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