Shocking video footage recorded at a protest in Chile showed the moment three police officers deliberately drove their motorcycles over a student.
The man who appeared in the cellphone video, and has not been identified, was standing in the middle of a street in coastal resort city of Viña del Mar when a police officer mowed him down on the afternoon of November 14.
The student managed to get to his feet and ran towards the sidewalk, where he tripped and fell to the pavement, before a second police officer accelerated and drove over his foot.
Subsequently, another cop joined in and crushed his abdomen area before a female protester interceded and blocked the law enforcement agent. Another female demonstrator pulled him off the ground, allowing him to run away.
A student (left) is sprawled on the ground after a cop mowed him down in a motorcycle during a demonstration in Viña del Mar, Chile, on November 14
After getting hit by a police bike, the man (center) got back on his feet and tried to run away but he fell as two police officers then took advantage and drove their motorbikes over the man’s body
Chilean police run over a protester with their motorcycles in the coastal resort city of Viña del Mar
The viral video was shared on social media Tuesday.
Chile, one of the most stable countries in Latin America, has been rocked by six weeks of protests over economic inequality and cuts to social service programs.
At least 26 people have been killed, over 13,000 have been injured while 25,000 have been arrested during the demonstrations.
A female protester ( picture center on the left) gets in the way of a police officer after he drove his motorcycle of a man (right) who fell to the pavement
Marta Valdes Recabarren led Thursday’s protest after her 17-year-old son Edgardo partially lost sight in his left eye after a tear gas canister hit him during a protest on October 18 and vowed that the rallies outside La Moneda would continue until Piñera ‘takes responsibility for the repression of the Chilean people.’
‘We cannot return to the impunity of 1973,’ she said, referring to the year General Augusto Pinochet led a coup in Chile. ‘This should not be happening in Chile in 2019.’
Since October 14, peaceful protests and violent riots have taken place across Chile over low wages, the high cost of living and persistent inequality.
Demonstrations have led to looting and arson attacks on supermarkets, metro stations, hotels and churches.
The Chilean Ophthalmological Society said 221 people had suffered from severe eye trauma in the demonstrations, mostly due to police rubber bullets.
Marcelo Herrera was one of several Chileans who participated in a demonstration outside the presidential palace to seek justice for the eye trauma he and more than 200 others have suffered in clashes with the police since October 14
The president of of a teacher’s college, Mario Aguilar, wears an eye patch to protest for the victims of eyes injuries during clashes with riot police
Demonstrators clashed Wednesday with government security forces in Santiago, the capital of Chile. The South American nation has been mired in a crisis as residents have protested, peacefully and violently, over low wages, the high cost of living and persistent inequality.
Piñera has vowed that any violations of human rights by security forces will be investigated.
But he has also hardened his tone again to address those behind the frequent surges in violence that on Tuesday night saw almost 100 arson and looting attacks and clashes with police recorded around the country by the interior ministry.
On Thursday he said police were facing a ‘powerful and implacable enemy … working with professional planning and unlimited evil.’
A riot police officer hits a demonstrator during Wednesday’s protests in Santiago, Chile
A riot police cop uses his baton to attack a protesters as Chileans were back out in the streets Wednesday protesting cuts to social programs and economic inequality
A man walks through a supermarket that was looted in Chile on Wednesday
Without identifying the perpetrators, he urged recruits at a police training academy to act with neither ‘ambiguity or half-measures’ towards ‘hoodies, looters and vandals, nor those who put up barricades or obstruct traffic.’
Rafael Zambrano, 23, said he suffered a detached retina and head injuries after police fired a water canon on him at close range during a protest in central Santiago. He rejected the suggestion the violence was driven by criminality.
‘We ARE fighting a powerful enemy: President Piñera and his security forces,’ he said. ‘What threat was I to police? I had no way to harm them, just words.’
The economic impact of Chile´s unrest on Thursday saw the local peso currency plummeted to a new low for the second day in a row at market close to 828.2 per dollar.
Chilean police did not respond to a request for comment.