Police briefly detained but then released the driver of a pickup who drove through counter-protesters leaving a conservative rally Sunday and appeared to come close to hitting some of them in downtown Vancouver.

The confrontation sparked a furious reaction on social media as people noted it came a month after a woman was killed and 19 others injured in Charlottesville, Virginia, when a car plowed through a crowd protesting a white nationalist rally.

No one was injured in the Vancouver encounter, said police spokeswoman Lt. Kathy McNicholas.

Videos show a black Chevy pickup adorned with American flags and a Confederate sticker stopped as a crowd of people walk toward it in the street near the Vancouver Convention Center. One demonstrator holds up his arms and appears to block the truck's way.

Large vehicle with flags challenging counter protesters in the street pic.twitter.com/Ubj3zh2Lv4 — Bethany Barnes (@BetsBarnes) September 10, 2017

The truck revs its engines and reverses away from the marchers, but then drives forward through the crowd walking in the middle of Columbia Street, videos posted by people there show. It goes through a red light at a nearby intersection and then stops when a car quickly veers in front of it. Police then put the driver in handcuffs to cheers from the crowd.

People yelled at the driver and appeared to throw objects at the truck during the face-off, including rocks and a glass bottle that shattered near its rear wheel, witnesses said. Some people appeared to scramble out of its way and onto the sidewalk.

Police held the driver for a few minutes, then let him go because it wasn't clear if he had committed a crime, McNicholas said.

"The officers on the scene couldn't determine if his intent was to harm anyone or if it was because he feared for his safety and was trying to escape harm," she said.

The case will be referred to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for review, she said.

She didn't know the man's identity because a police report in the case hadn't been written yet, she said.

Attempts to reach the driver through a publicly listed telephone number were unsuccessful Monday.

A change.org petition had collected almost 800 signatures by early Monday evening urging authorities to file charges against the driver.

The pickup had Oregon license plates with what sounded like a horn that played strains of the song "Dixie." The crowd included a few dozen people, including anti-fascist protesters, reporters and others.

The altercation followed two rallies - one in Vancouver and in downtown Portland - held by a conservative group called Patriot Prayer. Both rallies drew counter-protests.

Two people were arrested in Vancouver in incidents unrelated to the pickup and seven people were arrested in Portland.

Joey Gibson, Patriot Prayer's leader, said videos he'd seen appeared to show counter-protesters trying to hit the pickup.

"When we protest, we've got to leave the bystanders out of it," Gibson said. "Don't block traffic."

Several posts on social media identify the Chevy driver as a Portland man who works for an auto salvage dealership.

A video posted on Facebook shows a man wearing a shirt with the salvage business logo, standing on top of a U.S.-flag-covered black pickup with the same license plates as in the earlier videos.

The video shows the man with his arms outstretched and holding two American flags. "No jail for this proud USA patriot," he says.

Vancouver police asked anyone with information, photos or video of a crime during the gathering or who was a crime victim to contact their tip line at 360-487-7399 so an officer can follow up.

Bethany Barnes and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey