By JULIE CUNNINGHAM
(Northampton, MA) A peaceful rally turned violent yesterday when protesters clashed in Northampton. According to a statement released by Northampton Police Department, there were conflicting reports of a vehicle being surrounded by angry pedestrians on Main Street and the vehicle subsequently hitting one of the pedestrians. According to the report, the incident began as a conflict between one pedestrian and the vehicle. The pedestrian claimed some kind of projectile was thrown out the window. At that point, the vehicle was surrounded by other individuals. Another disturbance broke out when a male party was observed being punched by two other males. Pepper spray was used to disperse the crowd when the officers observed 50-75 other individuals surrounding the three men and they believed a larger disturbance was possible. A third disturbance broke out when one of the officers who was escorting one of the males away from the incident was pushed to the ground and protestors got on top of the officer. Pepper spray was also deployed at this point. Emergency vehicles then cleared the area and protestors remained in the area until 4:30pm and no other disturbances were reported.