A protest under Reno’s arch on Columbus Day has drawn international attention. Our reporter Bob Conrad has been following the story and has a recap on the situation.
Three people face charges for a clash that occurred when a truck drove through a crowd of demonstrators in downtown Reno, injuring five people.
A group had gathered at the arch to protest against Columbus Day and the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“We spoke about genocide against us indigenous people in North America and South America," explained Raquel Arthur of the American Indian Movement of Northern Nevada, or AIM. "Our intentions were to bring light to the racism and hate we indigenous people have gone through from 1492 through today.”
Arthur was speaking at a press conference where members of the group demanded more scrutiny into what led to one person, 18-year-old Nick Mahaffey, plowing through the group of demonstrators.
At a separate press conference held earlier, Reno Police Chief Jason Soto provided what he says was a factual timeline of events:
“Mr. Mahaffey approached…in an antagonistic manner, revving his engine and repeatedly honking his horn. Mr. Mahaffey’s vehicle was approached by several individuals. Some of those individuals can be heard telling Mr. Mahaffey to take a different route, while others are heard making threats to remove him from his vehicle and/or to perform acts of violence upon him.”
Soto announced that Mahaffey was facing a misdemeanor charge of provoking an assault while two others, Samuel Harry and James Fletcher, are being charged with simple battery for punching Mahaffey and his juvenile passenger during the altercation.
Members of AIM are now calling for Chief Soto to step down in the wake of the incident and its investigation.
They say that Mahaffey got off easy and are criticizing the Reno Police Department and demanding that the federal government conduct a higher level investigation.