SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — Outside California Highway Patrol Headquarters Tuesday, about a dozen people protested an arrest warrant for Danny Barrett, the protester who was swung from atop a cruiser and slammed into the pavement as the officer sped away from protestors outside McClellan Airport during President Trump's September visit.
"No, wait, you hit them with your car and you're going to charge them with being in your way?” Rider, a protestor who didn't want to give his full name, said, adding charges five months after the incident don’t make sense.
According to EMPACT, Barrett faces two charges for resistance and obstruction either a peace officer, public space, and the public. Rider said the charges add insult to injury. He was at the protest in mid-September and helped tend to Barrett's injuries.
"It wasn't fun," Rider said. "They were in a lot of pain.”
Rider and several eyewitnesses recalled what they described as officers blocking EMTs for 40 minutes. Protestors said they believe Barrett was a victim of a government-sanctioned hit and run.
"He literally just gunned the accelerator as fast as he could,” Leia Schenk, Founder of EMPACT, said.
She too was at the event and said the officer did not make an announcement to clear the roadway that was blocked off for protests. She added anxiety was already heightened after at least three vehicles careened into groups of protestors earlier in the day as tensions flared between Pro-Trump supporters and her group.
Addressing those who said the officer was justified because Barrett appeared to be climbing on the hood of the car, Schenk said anyone would have had a flight or fight response.
"You have to do something,” Schenk said. "I guess in that split second, they could have just stood there and got hit by the car and went underneath and maybe got rolled over, it really doesn't matter."
What does matter she said, is that the officer is held accountable as any other person would if they were to hit a person with a car. Barrett has not spoken publicly, but advocates said they will step in to speak out against warrants they see as an intimidation tactic from a racist system.
The CHP and District Attorney's office, both declined to comment stating it does not comment on arrest warrants by practice.
