Woman Charged With Attempted Murder After Driving Through Crowd of Trump Supporters

Tatiana Turner is taken into custody after witnesses said she drove her car into a crowd of President Donald Trump supporters in Yorba Linda, Calif., on Sept. 26, 2020. Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP

A woman was arrested and charged with attempted murder after targeting a crowd of President Donald Trump supporters in California on Saturday.

Tatiana Turner, 40, of Long Beach, was arrested after striking at least two people in the parking lot of the Yorba Linda Public Library, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.

Turner was being booked into the Orange County Jail on attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon charges.

The man and woman who were struck were transported to a nearby hospital with major injuries. They’re both expected to survive.

Officials said Turner was believed to be part of the Caravan for Justice, a social justice group that protests with Black Lives Matter organizations. Turner was wearing a black t-shirt that had “#Caravan4Justice. Caravan for Justice, which couldn’t be reached for comment, had said the march was to ”combat racism.”

It wasn’t clear whether Turner had a lawyer.

Witnesses said Turner targeted a crowd of Trump supporters that had faced off with demonstrators. The man that was hit was a Trump supporter, independent videographer Tomas Morales said.

“Someone ran their car through a crowd of Trump supporters,” an independent reporter on the scene said.

Video footage showed a white passenger car plowing through a crowd of people holding American flags in the library parking lot.

Black Lives Matter protesters and counter protesters clash in Yorba Linda, Calif., Sept. 26, 2020. Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP

Orange County Sheriff deputies intervene to keep protesters and counter protesters from each other, in Yorba Linda, Calif., Sept. 26, 2020. Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP

Prior to striking the people, Turner had pepper sprayed multiple people for no reason and brandished a wooden weapon, Morales reported.

The two sides had clashed before the incident. Deputies received reports of physical altercations between the Caravan for Justice demonstrators and counter-demonstrators about 30 minutes before the 2 p.m. event was planned for, including at least one person who was pepper sprayed by another protester.

There were about 250 present.

“Due to the physical altercations and reports of individuals within the crowd having weapons, an unlawful assembly was declared and a dispersal order was issued,” the sheriff’s office said.

Another person, 46-year-old Jason Mancuso of Anaheim, was arrested for failure to obey the order to disperse.

The crowd had dispersed by 4:30 p.m.

Yorba Linda is about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles in southern California.

Interactions between drivers and people during demonstrations have become common in recent months. Several drivers were attacked by protesters in Hollywood late Thursday, police said.

One of the drivers struck people blocking the road; one person suffered minor injuries, according to officers.

But Angelique Jackson said she was struck by one of the drivers and suffered a fractured skull.

“It looks like I shouldn’t be alive. It’s kind of shocking that I’m as fine as I am,” Jackson told CBS LA. “Of course, I put myself in that position. I knew the risk I was taking, however, he hit me.”

The drivers were detained but ultimately released without being charged. An investigation is ongoing.