Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said during a press conference on Tuesday that the state trooper who was driving her from an event “acted appropriately” after he struck a Black Lives Matter protestor who was in the middle of the road in Ackely.
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The statement was made while Gov. Reynolds addressed the incident, placing blame on the protestor for acting “inappropriately” and blocking the road as the SUV was moving towards them. She says, “As we were leaving the vicinity, the individual sped up and stepped in front of the vehicle intentionally, and you cannot block traffic as we’re leaving an event.”
However, Jaylen Cavil explained that he actually stood in front of the vehicle during the protest last week and hoped Reynolds would talk to protestors as reported by The Des Moines Register.
“The SUV that Gov. Reynolds was driving in drove right up to me. I was standing right in front of the car and I just stood there. I was like, ‘I’m going to stand here. Surely the driver of the governor is not going to hit me with her car. This is the governor, my governor, who’s supposed to be representing me. I’m sure that her car is not going to intentionally hit me, I was wrong”
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He continues, “It’s not like I went out of my way to jump in front of the vehicle in the way that she explains it or the State Patrol explains it. I was already standing where the vehicle was driving to,”
The Iowa State Patrol claimed a crash report was not filed because Cavil was not injured during the incident and there was no damage to the SUV.
SOURCE: Insider