At least five protestors were hit by a pickup truck Monday evening while protesting in downtown Reno. One woman was hospitalized, according to witnesses.

The protestors were part of a larger group advocating against the observance of Columbus Day under the Reno Arch. The incident occurred before 7 p.m. Monday.

According to witnesses, the group stopped under the Reno Arch on their way up Virginia Street when two men in a white Dodge pickup truck stopped in the crosswalk.  Witnesses said the driver revved the engine three times and threatened to run the group over.

The driver proceeded to ram through the crowd before the car sped down Virginia Street and made a right turn onto Second Street.

A witness said he saw the elder woman who was later hospitalized fall under the car after she was hit.

Several protestors jumped onto the hood of the pickup truck and grabbed the side doors in an effort to stop the pickup truck from speeding through downtown.

“This is a hate crime,” Quanah Brightman told the Reno Gazette Journal. “It’s still brutal to see this kind of racism in America. That man deserves life (in prison) for what he did.”

Brightman, the executive director of United Native Americans Inc. was part of the group that was run down protesting at the Reno Arch.

The driver and passenger in the pickup truck were described by protestors as “chubby” and in their 20s.

The news desk can be reached at rspacek@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush.