Driver on closed Seattle freeway hits 2 protestors, kills 1

[essentialsaltes]

1 of 2 protesters hit by driver on Seattle freeway dies

Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle died Saturday evening at Harborview Medical Center, spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

Taylor and Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, were hit by the car that barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters on Interstate 5 early Saturday morning, officials said.

Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking I-5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol.

Officials were trying to determine the motive as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the protesters were hit. Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway.

I had only seen the headlines before, I didn't realize how deliberate he had to have been to kill this person.

 

[TexFire316]

The Associated Press...The best friend Hitler ever had.
I guess I will have to wait until the State Troopers issue their report. Since they are the only ones with the legal authority to close a freeway.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Perhaps the driver didn’t want to share the fate of Reginald Denny...

 

[Ken-1122]

1 of 2 protesters hit by driver on Seattle freeway dies

Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle died Saturday evening at Harborview Medical Center, spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

Taylor and Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, were hit by the car that barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters on Interstate 5 early Saturday morning, officials said.

Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking I-5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol.

Officials were trying to determine the motive as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the protesters were hit. Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway.

I had only seen the headlines before, I didn't realize how deliberate he had to have been to kill this person.

Why are people from Portland Oregon coming to our State and City to protest something that happened 3000 miles away and shutting down our freeways? Why don't they do this in their own State?

 

[JIMINZ]

Why are people from Portland Oregon coming to our State and City to protest something that happened 3000 miles away and shutting down our freeways? Why don't they do this in their own State?

Because BLM!

 

[essentialsaltes]

Yes, thank you. Please keep these bizarrely defensive responses coming.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Here's the irony for you - the driver of the truck was black, the victims were both white.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I read this while watching the local news. Of course that is a top story here. Earlier they had a story on how the Highway Patrol is going to arrest anyone that protests on the freeways. I am fairly sure that this incident had a strong influence on that decision.

 

[Ana the Ist]

1 of 2 protesters hit by driver on Seattle freeway dies

Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle died Saturday evening at Harborview Medical Center, spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

Taylor and Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, were hit by the car that barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters on Interstate 5 early Saturday morning, officials said.

Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking I-5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol.

Officials were trying to determine the motive as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the protesters were hit. Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway.

I had only seen the headlines before, I didn't realize how deliberate he had to have been to kill this person.

I didn't realize it either....

This was a Black Lives Matter protest, right? And the driver was black?

 

[RestoreTheJoy]

Here's the irony for you - the driver of the truck was black, the victims were both white.

Yep, found that in a more factual story than the one posted, that wasted most of the article on how Kamala Harris and others feel about what happened - and the fact that the victim is referred to as "they" - than what actually happened.

From ABC7:

Kelete has a Seattle address. He is listed in public records as a student who attended Washington State University between 2011 and 2017 majoring in business and commerce. His enrollment status could not be confirmed because the university was closed Saturday.

Kelete was being held on charges of vehicular assault. He has a court hearing on Monday.

Facebook posts indicate he is a black man. So much for the BLM narrative.

Get OUT of the roads! These people had shut down the highway for 19 days straight, I read.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Why are people from Portland Oregon coming to our State and City to protest something that happened 3000 miles away and shutting down our freeways? Why don't they do this in their own State?

Why are the people of Washington trying to change the length of a mile?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

"Kelete was described by officers as reserved and sullen when he was arrested, according to court documents. He also asked if the pedestrians were OK, the documents say."

Good people on both sides.

 

[essentialsaltes]

No motive that I've seen (even assuming it was intentional), but when I saw it was a Jaguar, it made me think the driver was just too important to be bothered by things like the freeway being closed.

 

[BigDaddy4]

Get OUT of the roads! These people had shut down the highway for 19 days straight, I read.

You read incorrectly. CHOP/CHAZ is/was not located on the highway (actually it's a freeway).

 

[cow451]

A source I know who was on the scene and witnessed the incident said the driver was not connected with the protest in any way. He appeared to have come up on the poorly blocked off portion and was simply going at highway speed. He apparently realized too late the road was blocked and was trying to avoid hitting the vehicles in the road.

I obviously cannot independently verify any of this and am not going to identify the individual.

 

[RestoreTheJoy]

You read incorrectly. CHOP/CHAZ is/was not located on the highway (actually it's a freeway).

They had shut down an area of Seattle for 19 days, the article said. You are right, though the highways have also had protesters (not sure how many days though).

 

[RestoreTheJoy]

A source I know who was on the scene and witnessed the incident said the driver was not connected with the protest in any way. He appeared to have come up on the poorly blocked off portion and was simply going at highway speed. He apparently realized too late the road was blocked and was trying to avoid hitting the vehicles in the road.

I obviously cannot independently verify any of this and am not going to identify the individual.

This is more or less what I read from a newspaper report.

 

[Chesterton]

Is the Darwin Award only for those who get themselves killed through stupidity, or is the Seattle city government eligible?

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Is the Darwin Award only for those who get themselves killed through stupidity, or is the Seattle city government eligible?

When you get yourself killed, it's a Darwin Award. When you get somebody else killed, it's involuntary manslaughter.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

I have no sympathy for people who protest on highways.