A woman who was protesting against immigration operations outside of the federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles on Friday night was struck by a car leaving the compound. Videos of the incident, which show the woman standing in front of the moving vehicle, but she insists that she didn't step in its path on purpose.
Jasmin Alyssa Quan-Martinez said that the entire ordeal happened so quickly that she barely had time to think.
"I'm not the fastest thinker sometimes, so I'm standing there and I'm kind of looking at it, cause I can't believe there's a car, like, right there," Quan-Martinez said.
The video shows the moments when she looks to be in the path of the car as it left the facility Friday night at around 9 p.m. It also shows the car tapping her twice as it continues driving before eventually driving away down Alameda Street.
More video, taken from another angle, shows the car driving down the street for several seconds with Quan-Martinez on the hood. She is then thrown to the side of the curb, but quickly stands up and walks back to the group of other demonstrators.
While she knows that some people may think she intended to cause trouble, she says that grabbing onto the hood was her way of avoiding falling off and going underneath the car.
"So the fact that I couldn't react fast enough, cause I'm not Chuck Norris or anything like that, and move off fast to the side," Quan-Martinez said. "My intent was to walk back and forth on the sidewalk. That is, like, allowed to walk on cause it's a public sidewalk."
She says she was able to walk away with minor injuries and went to the hospital afterwards to be checked out. She says that she knows protesting comes with risks, and despite that, she thinks it's important that everyone's voice can be heard.
"The severity of it is just ridiculous, and seeing that kids are even scared, it's very sad," Quan-Martinez said.
No police report was filed in connection with the incident, and on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that it was an officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
"No one was run over. On March 13, at approximately 10:00PM, a CBP officer was leaving his work in his personal vehicle when 10 rioters surrounded him and began banging on his windows and threw an item at this car. The rioters used enough force that the officer believed they were attempting to break the window. In fear for his personal safety, he attempted to quickly exit the dangerous situation. One rioter jumped onto the hood of the moving vehicle and quickly jumped off," the statement from DHS said. "We remind the public that rioting is dangerous. Assaulting law enforcement is felony and a federal crime."