Truck speeds up to protesters on Minneapolis highway

A tanker truck driver terrified protesters blocking a Minneapolis highway on Sunday (May 31) as he sped up towards the crowd then braking hard and stopping shortly before hitting a protester still on the highway, momentarily before other protesters swarmed back around his stationary truck and hit the vehicle as he then attempted to drive slowly through the large crowd.

No protester appeared to be injured from the incident but the driver, who was overpowered and beaten up, was arrested and hospitalizedwith non-life threatening injuries.

The protest, which blocked both sides of the I-35 highway, was part of wider anger at incidents of police brutality targeting black Americans, triggered again in the past week by Monday's death of George Floyd after a white policeman pressed his knee against his neck leaving Floyd struggling to breathe.

Video showed the truck had a logo on its side for "Kenan Advantage Group," an Ohio-based transportation company.

The company said in a statement that it was informed of an incident involving one of its independent contractors in Minneapolis and it would be cooperating with investigating authorities.

MNDPS did not identify the driver but said the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were investigating the incident as a criminal matter.

It marked the second incident in as many days of a vehicle driving at people protesting Floyd's death after a New York City Police car was captured on video on Saturday (May 30) driving a few metres into a group of protesters who were holding up a barrier to halt the police car's movement.

 

 

 

REUTERS