A driver in what looks like a Dodge Durango rammed a crowd of protesters in Times Square last night, dragging one person a whole block. News this morning is that the driver was taken into custody but released and will face no charges. They are getting away with it.

Here is the video of the incident itself, which shows the black Dodge gassing it as it hits people and speeds away:

Local news New York 1 interviewed witnesses at the scene, who say they tried to stop the driver and saw him shaking with rage and hyperventilating:

followed up noting that the identity of the driver remains undisclosed, but the NYPD assures the press that it is making an investigation, this being the same NYPD that rammed protesters with cop cars . Per NY1:

No one was seriously hurt. The crowd surrounded the SUV until police arrived. The driver was then released with no charges.

[...]

The motivation and the identity of the driver remains unclear at the time of this writing, though an investigation is already under way by the NYPD, according to police.

The driver and passenger, of course, claimed that they were scared of the protesters, which seems to be a common refrain in these increasingly common attacks, as and as the detailed in a trend piece just yesterday:

Dozens of similar incidents have occurred across the United States in recent weeks, although it is difficult to assess which attacks are premeditated and which are prompted by rage when drivers find their route blocked by crowds. The tactic has previously been mostly used by extremist jihadist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, as well as Palestinian militants.

It’s happened again. In Toronto, a suspect used a Ryder van to drive into a crowd, this time…

As ever, the city’s record for prosecuting cars that hit people, , .