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Bogdan Vechirko, the truck driver who was apprehended after driving into a crowd of demonstrators, poses for a booking photograph at Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 31, 2020. Hennepin County Sheriff's Office/Handout via Reuters.
Authorities in Minnesota they say the driver of a semitrailer who rolled toward of crowd of thousands of people marching on a closed Minneapolis freeway over the death of George Floyd has been charged on suspicion of assault.
The Hennepin County Sheriffs' office identified the driver as 35-year-old Bogdan Vechirko.
Law enforcement officials say Vechirko was driving the tanker truck late Sunday as it sped towards a group of protesters on Interstate highway 35W near downtown Minneapolis. Witnesses say the driver sounded a horn but did not slow down as his truck approached the crowd.
Officials say the protestors were able to get out of the way and avoid injury, and they swarmed the vehicle as it slowed to stop. Vechirko was pulled from the truck and assaulted by some protesters before another group of protesters apparently came to his rescue. He was turned over to police who took him to be treated for his injuries before placing him under arrest.
Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said Sunday that it initially appeared from traffic camera footage that the semitrailer was already on the freeway before barricades were set up at 5 p.m. State Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said at a later briefing, however, that the truck went around a traffic barrier to stay on the road.
Officials say they are still trying to determine a motive for the incident.