Pensacola, Florida – July 2, 2020 – Attorney Chris Klotz issued the following statement on behalf of Jason Uphaus, the protestor arrested after falling onto a vehicle charging toward him and other protestors at the Pensacola Bay Bridge in early June shown on this video.
“It’s been almost an entire month since this peaceful protest was interrupted by an angry and threatening driver who disobeyed the police officer directing traffic by aggressively driving into a standing crowd of people.
“Even though they took almost a full month before deciding to press charges, law enforcement couldn’t wait 24 hours for Mr. Uphaus to voluntarily turn himself in. Despite their promise to allow a single father to make childcare arrangements before self-surrendering, as generally happens in a minor misdemeanor charge, they pulled him out of his home in front of his young child and transported him to jail.
“We look forward to trying this case, telling the whole story of what happened on the bridge, showing the reckless and callous history of the driver, and getting justice for Mr. Uphaus. We’ll have more to say in the coming days about this case.â€