Driver hits 2 at start of Pride parade in South Florida
CHRIS DAY/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL VIA AP
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., is comforted after a truck drove into a crowd of people during The Stonewall Pride Parade and Street Festival in Wilton Manors, Fla., Saturday, June 19. A driver has slammed into spectators at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida, injuring at least two people. Wilton Manors police tweeted Saturday night that the parade was canceled due to a “tragic event.”
CHRIS DAY/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL VIA AP
Police and firefighters respond after a truck drove into a crowd of people during The Stonewall Pride Parade and Street Festival in Wilton Manors, Fla., on Saturday, June 19. WPLG-TV reports that the driver of the truck was taken into custody.
WILTON MANORS, FlA. >> A driver slammed into spectators Saturday at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida, injuring at least two people.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis confirmed the crash occurred Saturday evening at the Stonewall Pride Parade in the nearby city of Wilton Manors, WSVN-TV reported.
WPLG-TV reports that the driver of the truck was taken into custody. Authorities did not immediately give details about the victims’ injuries or say whether they believe the crash was intentional.
Photos and video from the scene showed Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in tears while in a convertible at the parade. A spokesperson for Wasserman Schultz did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
“We were at the start of the parade, right in front of Fort Lauderdale High School,” spectator Christina Currie told the South Florida SunSentinel. “All of a sudden there was a loud revving of a truck and a crash through a fence. … It was definitely an intentional act right across the lanes of traffic.”
Wilton Manors police tweeted Saturday night that the public is not in danger.
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“A tragic incident occurred at today’s Stonewall event,” Wilton Manors Mayor Scott Newton said in a statement, according to WPLG-TV. “Out of respect for everyone involved, the parade has been canceled and a thorough investigation is being conducted.”
June is Pride Month, commemorating the June 1969 police raid targeting gay patrons at the Stonewall Inn in New York that led to an uprising of LGBTQ Americans and served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement.
