KEY POINTS

  • A truck driver was arrested after it sped toward a crowd of protesters in Minnesota
  • 35-year-old Bogdan Vechirko was arrested on suspicion of assault
  • TV aerial and state camera footages suggested Vechirko was driving above the speed limit 
  • None of the protesters were seriously injured in the incident

The driver of a tanker truck was arrested after he drove his vehicle toward demonstrators who gathered on Interstate 35W in Minneapolis following worldwide protests for the death of 46-year-old George Floyd.

The truck driver was later identified by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office as Bogdan Vechirko. The 35-year-old Otsego, Minnesota resident was arrested on suspicion of assault at 8:58 p.m., Sunday (May 31).

Fox News said that the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) had previously reported that Vechirko was taken into custody and brought to Hennepin Healthcare for non-life threatening injuries after protesters dragged him out of the truck and beat him. The outlet also pointed out the report of The Guardian, who said that protesters smashed the truck's windshield, while others threw their bicycles in front of the vehicle in an effort to slow it down.

The incident was caught on camera by TV aerial and state traffic cameras before the crowd marched and took over I-35. Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said the truck was already on the highway when authorities began close it, according to The Mercury News.

Protesters hold up their fists as flames rise behind them in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during a protest over the death of African American George Floyd in police custody
Protesters hold up their fists as flames rise behind them in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during a protest over the death of African American George Floyd in police custody AFP / Kerem Yucel

Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell also said Vechirko drove around a “traffic diversion” that was being set up to divert vehicles off the highway. He added that the 18-wheeler “drove toward and into the edge of the crowd” above the speed limit before coming to a halt. Videos of the incident that was shared online also showed the driver sounding his horn, added the outlet.

Harrington and Schnell estimated some 4,000 to 7,000 people were on the highway at the time of the incident.

Heavy said the Minnesota State Patrol and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are teaming up to investigate what happened and treating is as a “criminal matter.”

“It was one of the most dangerous things I've ever seen,” Harrington told CBS Minnesota.

“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,” Governor Tim Walz told the media in a news conference late Sunday.

Walz also described the incident as a “horrifying image” that could have stemmed from the “volatile” nature of the situation, said KARE 11.

DPS officials said none of the protesters were seriously injured.

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