One person is dead and three injured after a car ran over a group of protestors in Minneapolis Sunday night.
“One person was taken into custody late Sunday night after driving a vehicle into a group of protesters gathered at West Lake Street and Girard Avenue South in Uptown,” according to WCCO. “Minneapolis Police said through a news release that police officers monitoring the protest on camera witnessed an eastbound vehicle drive into the a [sic] group of protesters at 11:39 p.m.”
Two protestors were in “very critical” condition in the hospital after the crash.
The name of the deceased has not yet been released.
According to the report, an adult male was taken into custody for driving through the crowd.
Police are still determining the cause and motive behind the crash.
“We are continuing to work towards finding what that motive is,” Minneapolis Police spokesman John Elder reportedly said. “Preliminary investigation by the traffic unit show there was possible drug or alcohol use and that could have been a contributing factor.”
The protestors were gathered for Winston Smith, the 32-year-old who was shot and killed by members of a U.S. Marshals task force on June 3 while they attempted to serve a warrant for his arrest on a felony gun conviction. Authorities say Smith fired a gun at them before they returned fire.
A woman in the car with Smith said through an attorney that he was unarmed. Police said they have video evidence that backs their version of the story, though it has not been released to the public yet.
Smith was a frequent participant in the rallies and riots that surrounded the death of George Floyd, and the subsequent trial and murder conviction of ex-Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin.
Shortly before his death, Smith posed for a photo with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, known for his work on several high-profile cases that have sparked Black Lives Matter protests and riots.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Minnesota Sun and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Minneapolis Police Department” by Tony Webster CC BY 2.0.
