FUELING THE FLAMES
Terrifying moment truck speeds towards George Floyd protesters on Minnesota highway as driver is arrested
A TANKER truck driver who sped through a crowd of George Floyd protesters on a Minnesota highway has been arrested.
Terrifying footage shows the truck being driven towards thousands of demonstrators gathered on I-35W before it came to a halt.
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Witnesses said the truck's horn was being blown as it was driven toward thousands of people at around 6pm Sunday.
They were marching toward downtown Minneapolis to take part in ongoing protests over the death of .
The rig stopped briefly as people swarmed around it before it was driven off again and then eventually came to a halt a few moments later.
The driver - named later as 35-year-old Bogdan Vechirko - was pulled out of the cab and beaten.
A group of marchers intervened to protect him from further harm and he was handed over to the cops, shirtless and bloodied.
Police said said he was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and is under arrest.
Cops also confirmed that no protesters were hurt.
Drew Valle, a special education teacher, told the : "He wasn’t stopping.
"He was beeping loudly and driving into a crowd of people.
"That’s the same kind of malice that brought us here. It’s a callous disregard for someone’s humanity."
A large presence has since been seen on the I-35 highway.
On Sunday evening, Governor Tim Walz said: "I don’t know the motives of the driver at this point in time. "But at this point in time to not have tragedy and many deaths is an amazing thing."
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The Minnesota Department of Public Safety later said that the driver of the truck had been arrested.
Vechirko, of Otsego, Minnesota, is currently being held custody on probable cause assault,
DPS Commissioner John Harrington said no protesters on the southbound lanes of the interstate were seriously hurt.
Between 5,000 and 6,000 people were on the bridge at the time the truck drove through the crowd, he said.
The demonstrators were part of a “No Bail” march, which began at the U.S. Bank Stadium and then about 4 p.m., the group started to march toward downtown Minneapolis.
As the march moved from the stadium over to Hennepin Avenue Bridge, then over to Interstate 35W by about 5:30 p.m., thousands took a knee and a moment of silence.
Harrington says the truck was already on the interstate before the incident, even though it had closed about 40 minutes earlier at 5pm.
Vechirko works as an independent contractor for the Ohio-based Kenan Advantage Group.
“Our hearts go out to all those who are grieving the events of this past week," said Kenan in a statement.
“We have been informed of an incident involving one of our independent contractors in Minneapolis, MN during recent protests.
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“Our first and foremost concern is for the safety and security of the public, our employees and our customers.”
The incident came on the sixth day of nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mr Floyd, a black man who was killed when cop Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck while he was handcuffed.
Viral video showed Chauvin and three other officers pinning Mr Floyd to the ground as they arrested him for allegedly attempting to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill.
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