Had he gone straight, it's "Into the crowd".
Had he gone left, it's "Into the crowd".
But he went right, allegedly "Into the crowd".
I say ''allegedly" for the sake of being pedantic. Did the driver hit anyone?
Did the crowd have a permit to protest? Was the street blocked off? I ask that because I've seen hyper aggressive drivers do that accelerate & hard stop over a short distance- Douche Bag Of The Year Manuever-, several times. Once leaving an NFL game, once leaving the fireworks at Shelby Farms, once leaving the fair, and a few other times.
There were a few difference between the instances I mentioned and the one in this instance though. The crowds were actually crossing the road, not intentionally obstructing traffic, and the crowd had right of way. The crowds had an instinctive reaction to move away from the vehicle. There were a few "F-You's", your #1 salutes, and other threats but the crowd did not bum rush the vehicle while one among them had a firearm aimed or pointed in the general direction of the driver.
It's really hard for me to make out what's what in the video. I can't decipher anything as to who shot first by the gun shots. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, the mob wasn't rushing in on his car after shots were fired.
I've got no problem with fileing charges against the driver. Regardless of the driver's provocation of the crowd, Is getting bum rushed by protesters while one of them has an AR-15 aimed or pointed in his direction grounds for self defense? I don't know. Let the courts decide. If the scenario were reversed and the driver got shot I'd want it to go to court as well.
Seems like everyone involved was playing a Stupid Game to me. One guy ended up in the Stupid Prize blast radius.