According to the Detroit Free Press, about 300 protesters took part in the demonstration when it started at Patton Park, but the crowd shrank as the march continued into the evening.
Jae Bass, 24, said he was one of the people thrown from the hood of the SUV.
"He went super fast. Me and a couple of other organizers that were with me just went flinging off," Bass told The Detroit Free Press. "We went flying off. He ran over a couple people's arms, feet. He ran over her phone. I think I was the last person on the car. I was just holding onto the car. I could feel him speeding up and then he did one of these and he flinged me off the car."
The rally included civil rights leaders and several community organizations. Detroit immigrant rights organizer Adonis Flores encouraged the crowd to keep up the fight.
“We can fight in politics. We can fight in the streets," Flores said. "We can fight in our home, in our schools. Wherever you feel more comfortable. We need to fight everywhere in every corner of our society.”
Jason Paskvan with the Detroit Indigenous Peoples Alliance also spoke to the crowd, saying Black people have disproportionately suffered during the coronavirus pandemic and throughout history.
"I'm here today to talk about Black and brown solidarity," he said. "While America was founded on universal appeals to equality and independence, it was also founded on the extracted labor of enslaved Africans and expanded through the genocide of native peoples and the theft of land, also known as settler colonialism."
According to The Detroit News, the people of Detroit have been protesting continuously for weeks since the death of George Floyd, who died on May 25 when former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. Although the demonstrations have been mostly peaceful, there was an incident in the first week of the protests where police used rubber bullets and tear gas to enforce a curfew, The Detroit News reported.
Tristan Taylor, a protester who spoke to WDIV, said the incident proves why the demonstrations continue.
“That’s why we are marching,” Taylor said. “These police feel like their badge gives them the authority to do harm and damage under any circumstances.”
In a statement to The Detroit News, the police department said the officer was trying to escape after the crowd broke the back window. Police also said there were some "agitators" involved in the demonstration on Sunday. The driver hasn't been identified.
