Officials with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety have announced the arrest of the truck driver seen on video driving at protesters on I-35W. He’d been taken to a hospital after he incited “a crowd of peaceful demonstrators,” but he has now been released from the medical facility, officials said.
Frightening video from the scene showed the tanker truck driving at protesters. The crowd parted, and the vehicle stopped.
An initial tweet from police said it didn’t seem like any protesters had been hit by the truck. Some eyewitness accounts complained that instead of handling the driver, police pepper sprayed protesters.
Protests popped up nationwide after the death of Minnesota man George Floyd. Then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was seen on video kneeling on his neck for minutes, while he pleaded with the officer to get off him. Floyd became unresponsive, and officials dragged his limp body onto a gurney. Chauvin was fired after video of the incident was released, and he was charged with third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. The incident tapped into an ongoing national debate over how law enforcement treats people of color, especially black men and women. Floyd was black. Chauvin is white.
[Screengrab via @ShadePratt22 on Twitter]