According to reports, a Black Lives Matter protestor was struck by the SUV that was used to transport Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday.
The Des Moines Register reported that Jaylen Cavil, an organizer with Des Moines Black Lives Matter, said he was standing in the driveway, intentionally blocking the SUV’s path. Cavil was hoping Reynolds would roll down the window of the vehicle and speak with the protestors.
“The SUV that Gov. Reynolds was driving in drove right up to me. I was standing right in front of the car and I just stood there. I was like, ‘I’m going to stand here. Surely the driver of the governor is not going to hit me with her car. This is the governor, my governor, who’s supposed to be representing me. I’m sure that her car is not going to intentionally hit me.’ I was wrong,” Cavil told the Register.
Pat Garrett, spokesperson for Gov. Reynolds, declined to comment. However, a spokesperson for the Iowa State Patrol confirmed the incident to the Des Moines Register.
According to the Iowa State Patrol, the demonstrator stopped short and to the side of the vehicle. As the vehicle began to turn away from the protestor and onto the road, the demonstrator intentionally stepped in front of the slowly moving vehicle.
Troopers on the scene advised the demonstrator to stop trying to block traffic. The demonstrator did not appear to suffer injury and did not request medical attention. He did, however, immediately begin shouting obscenities at the responding personnel. The demonstrator and his group then blocked members of the Iowa State Patrol from leaving the area.
Cavil was among the Black Lives Matter activists who met with Reynolds twice in her office at the Capitol.
Cavil lists himself as a political coordinator for Eddie Mauro, a Democrat who lost in his bid for the U.S. Senate nomination against Theresa Greenfield. According to Cavil’s LinkedIn page, he started as a field organizer for Mauro in September of 2019, advanced to political coordinator and then became senior deputy political director.
“I’m okay,” Cavil wrote on Facebook. “But I still can’t believe this happened. Gov. Kim Reynolds needs to sign an executive order immediately reinstating the voting rights off (sic) all Iowans who have been convicted of a felony. Stop running, stop hiding and stop having your driver hit people with your car.”
