In a sign of the support that the group continues to receive, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. visited the group in McPherson Square on Monday night.
Still, D.C. police have landed in the center of a widening public debate over the handling of Friday’s events at the convention center.
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More than 500 protesters descended on the building to protest an Americans for Prosperity dinner honoring Ronald Reagan , blocking nearby intersections and sitting in front of some convention center doors.
At one point, according to witnesses and video, some protesters tried to storm the building. Videos posted on conservative blogs show three older attendees on the ground after they tried to leave the building. Conservative activists said the women were pushed to the ground, but protesters released their own videos Monday that they said prove they did not push anyone to the ground.
Although D.C. police had cordoned off an eight-block radius to give demonstrators unimpeded access to the streets, four protesters were injured after being struck by a vehicle.
Police stopped the suspected driver about two blocks from the scene, but no charges were filed. Instead, police issued jaywalking citations to three demonstrators who were hit. Police agreed to reopen their investigation Monday after protesters held a news conference to offer evidence suggesting that the driver deliberately struck two sets of protesters, about two blocks apart.
“One driver hit this person right here and then went around the corner and hit a family of three at the intersection,” said Adam Green. “We cannot allow it to be precedent that peaceful protesters are mowed over by cars with no proper investigation or arrest by police.”
Occupy D.C. protesters noted that the police report that referenced the driver of the car spoke of only three demonstrators struck at Seventh Street and Mount Vernon Place. The group produced a second police report taken at the same time on L Street for a “hit and run” where Georgia Pearce of Moss Point, Miss., was also struck.
Pearce, who suffered a concussion, said she was trying to cross the street near the crosswalk on Seventh Street to join another group of demonstrators when she saw a “silver four-door sedan” coming at her from “the wrong direction.”
“I was trying to get him to slow down so I could step out of the way,” Pearce said. “Instead he rushes up to me, and I end up putting my hands on the car hood, and he pushes at me and pushes me, and that is all I remember.”
Two witnesses said they saw the same car turn the corner and travel south on Seventh Street, where an Ohio couple and their 13-year-old son were struck while demonstrating in the intersection of Mount Vernon Place.
Infuriated that police did not interview them before announcing that the driver was not being charged, the victims and several dozen Occupy D.C. supporters marched on police headquarters Monday afternoon. When they arrived, a line of officers guarded the doors and refused to allow the witnesses or victims to enter the building to give statements.
After a 30-minute standoff, police agreed to allow them to enter the building to make statements.
“Hopefully, this will lead to easier actions down the road and justice for everyone,” said Heidi Sippel, who was struck at Seventh Street and Mount Vernon Place.
Staff writers Juliet Eilperin and Allison Klein contributed to this report.
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