A 25-year-old Buffalo woman is accused of striking a bicyclist with her car during a protest over the death of Breonna Taylor.
Joanna Gollnau was charged Friday with felony reckless endangerment and reckless driving after Buffalo police said she hit a bicyclist Wednesday evening with her pickup truck in Niagara Square.
The crash occurred as protesters marched to express outrage after a Kentucky grand jury did not charge Louisville police officers in the death of Breonna Taylor.
Following the crash, police said the cyclist was taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
A local bicyclist group Slow Roll Buffalo wrote on Facebook that the driver was stopped in front of City Hall during the “impromptu nonviolent” protest and “suddenly revved up and rammed through the crowd.”
It identified the victim as Karen Huffman, board member and longtime volunteer leader of the group.
“Karen is currently hospitalized in stable condition, grateful for the rapid response from volunteer medics on the scene as well as the ongoing outpouring of love and care for her,” the group wrote in a Facebook post.
Taylor, an emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times in March by white officers who entered her home during a narcotics investigation.
State Attorney General Daniel Cameron said that while the officers had a no-knock warrant, the investigation showed they announced themselves before entering. The warrant used to search her home was connected to a suspect who did not live there, and no drugs were found inside.
The only charges were three counts of wanton endangerment against fired officer Brett Hankison for shooting into a home next to Taylor’s with people inside.
Taylor’s case became a major touchstone for nationwide protests that have drawn attention to entrenched racism and police reform demands.
