Tesla Driver Charged With Running Into 69-Year-Old ‘No Kings’ Protester in SF

A man accused of hitting and injuring a 69-year-old protester with his car while trying to drive through the San Francisco “No Kings” march last weekend has been charged with several felonies, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Friday.

Prosecutors said Hauwei Lien, 44, of Milpitas, was trying to cross Market Street during the march on Saturday, which brought tens of thousands of people into the streets to demonstrate against President Donald Trump and his administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement.

After Lien began driving through the crowd of protesters, prosecutors said, one man put his hands on the hood of Lien’s red Tesla Model Y to get him to stop. Lien allegedly accelerated into the 69-year-old victim, pushing him onto the hood of the car as he held on, and then braked suddenly to throw him off.

Then, while the victim was still clinging to the hood, Lien accelerated again and swerved sharply, prosecutors said, running over the man’s foot and breaking two of his toes. The man also suffered a large gash across his forehead, officials said.

The San Francisco district attorney’s office filed felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse and hit-and-run.

Lien pleaded not guilty to all charges on Wednesday and remains in custody after prosecutors sought to have him detained until trial because they said he poses a public safety risk. His next court date is set for Monday.