Christi Bennett Scottsburg, Indiana woman charged in Bloomington hit and run which left two protesters, Chasity Mottinger & Geoff Stewart injured.
An Indiana woman accused of deliberately driving into demonstrations protesting the alleged attempted lynching of a black man on Monday has been arrested.
Christi Bennett, 66, of Scottsburg, was on Thursday charged with two counts of criminal recklessness and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident.
According to a Bloomington police release, Bennett was arrested a day earlier at a motel where she refused to offer a statement.
Footage posted to Twitter showed a red Toyota Corolla, allegedly driven by Bennett, striking two protesters late Monday near the Monroe County Courthouse, where demonstrators were reportedly demanding arrests of several people who allegedly attacked Vauhxx Rush Booker near Lake Monroe on July 4.
Two people were hurt during the incident, including Chasity Mottinger, 29, who was knocked unconscious as she was launched onto the Corolla’s hood, according to a probable cause affidavit.
#BlackLivesMatter #bloomingtonindiana #BLMprotest pic.twitter.com/0A9IA19tdH
— ॐ (@jarenvaught) July 7, 2020
Wait a minute…
Also injured was 35 year old man, Geoff Stewart, who was holding onto the car as it sped off. The incident led to the local being left with cuts and bruises.
Stewart accused Bennett of ‘revving her car’ into the crowd after she was asked to roll down her window.
‘Someone asked where she was trying to go,’ Stewart told the Indianapolis Star. ‘I did not hear her response, but the person talking to her said, ‘If you wait just a minute, you’ll be able to go through once everyone has cleared out.”
Instead, Bennett accelerated, injuring two individuals as she drove off.
On the arrest of Christi Bennett, terrorism should be treated as such. $500 bail is offensive. This was an act of hate and can’t be tolerated in our community. Details are unclear, but intentions don’t negate impact. The impact was terror.
https://t.co/auv2qmSz3P— Vauhxx R. Booker (@Vauhxx) July 9, 2020
Bennett has since been released on $500 bond, which Stewart described as a ‘slap on the wrist.’
‘She needs to be in prison because she has not learned from her violent acts and was unwilling to be reasonable when approached calmly,’ Stewart told the Indianapolis Star.
Bennett, who has previously been convicted of stalking, is due to make her first court appearance next week. A motive for the attack has not been disclosed.
Mottinger echoed Stewart’s take, saying she was ‘really disappointed’ Bennett was released on $500 bond.
‘This just adds to the concerns the community has had lately — but actually for a very long time — regarding violent white individuals not receiving proper attention from law enforcement, like the men last weekend,’ Mottinger told the Associated Press.
