A man drove into a group of protesters, killing one woman and injuring others at an Uptown Minneapolis intersection late Sunday.
The incident occurred about 11:40 p.m. at W. Lake Street and S. Girard Avenue, near where Winston Boogie Smith Jr. was fatally shot by law enforcement on June 3 during an attempt by a U.S. Marshals Service task force to arrest him in a parking ramp.
Previous stories:
Wanted felon Winston Boogie Smith fired at cops before he was killed
Winston ‘Boogie’ Smith: 5 Fast Facts
The woman died after being taken by ambulance to HCMC. A second protester also was struck by the vehicle and taken by ambulance to HCMC. Two more people from the incident later sought medical attention at nearby hospitals, said police spokesman John Elder.
The driver was hospitalized for treatment of injuries after some of the protesters “began to strike” him, Elder said. Conditions of the injured protesters and the driver were not immediately known.
Police have yet to determine a motive for the driver’s actions, however, “the use of drugs or alcohol … may be a contributing factor in this crash,” Elder said.
Garrett Knajdek said his sister, Deona M. Knajdek, of Minneapolis, was the protester who was killed. She was to have celebrated her 32nd birthday on Wednesday.
“She was using her car as a street blockade, and another vehicle struck her vehicle and her vehicle struck her,” the 29-year-old brother said, who learned the details from police and his mother.
He said his sister, a mother to daughters ages 11 and 13, was active about many issues surrounding justice.
“She constantly sacrificing herself for everyone around her,” he said, “no matter the cost, obviously.”
Identities of the driver and those who were injured have yet to be released.
A major crash happened in Minneapolis involving a car and street protesters. One protester reportedly died. The driver was pulled out and assaulted by the crowd before being taken into police custody. pic.twitter.com/GbyoPGZEQL
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 14, 2021
Jill MacPhee, who lives in the Walkway apartment across the street, said, “I heard this big thump and a crash,” she said. When she came outside, she saw the injured woman lying on the sidewalk on the southeast corner of the intersection.
Well after daybreak Monday, the scene was largely quiet. A streetlight pole, torn from its base, laid alongside the sidewalk, dangling wires still connected to the shattered base. Nearby, jagged pieces of a car’s front end, including an entire headlight, we’re piled along a fence.
Video posted on social media from the scene overnight showed a man being hustled down the sidewalk by one man as another yelled, “You’re going to jail! You’re going to jail!”
The man was walked over to police by one protester as others raised their arms and chanted, “Hands up!”
“I didn’t mean to,” the man can be heard saying on one of the postings.
Another protester posted on social media that the woman was sitting down when she was run over.
Several of the witnesses turned their distress toward police officers as they had their pepper spray at the ready while securing the scene ahead of an ambulance arriving.
Councilmember Lisa Bender, whose ward includes Uptown, said in e-mail to the community Monday morning, “I woke up to the very troubling news that a person was killed in Uptown last night, when a driver crashed into people gathered in protest. Any death in our city is a tragedy, and as we wait for more information, I hope we can all come together to support the victim’s family and friends who have suffered this sudden loss of life.”
Bender said that based on what police have so far disclosed, “it does not seem possible at this time to say if the crash was accidental or intentional. MPD is investigating. … This stretch of road, like many in our community, is one of the highest crash corridors.”
There have been ongoing protests in Uptown since Smith’s death.
The entry lane to the parking garage where Smith was shot has been painted and repainted at least five times in the past week as activists and the property owner strive for the last word.
Earlier Sunday, a high-profile business announced that it’s pulling out of Uptown after 35 years, citing concerns about crime and social unrest. Juut Salon Spa is a fixture at the corner of Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street.
“It has become more and more evident that Uptown continues to struggle with store closings, social unrest, crime and street closures,” a Facebook posting by the company read. “We would be heartbroken if anything were to happen to our team members or clients. With that at the forefront, we made this difficult decision.”
Smith, a 32-year-old father of three, was killed after task force members surrounded him on the top floor of the parking garage at Seven Points, the shopping mall formerly known as Calhoun Square. Authorities say he fired a gun from his vehicle as the task force tried to arrest him on a warrant from Ramsey County for being a felon in possession of a gun.
An unidentified woman who was with Smith at the time said she never saw him with a weapon, her attorneys said last week. Authorities have said that no body or dash camera or surveillance footage is available in the case.
Jordan C.K., who lives two blocks from the scene, said Monday morning that he’s angry at the lack of information about Smith’s death.
“Let’s get the questions dialed in,” he said. “Who killed Winston Smith? Let’s have a name. Why does the North Star Task Force get a green light to come into our city, kill a man and give no information? And where the hell is Mayor Jacob Frey?”
[email protected] • 612-673-4482
©2021 StarTribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
“She was using her car as a street blockade, and another vehicle struck her vehicle and her vehicle struck her,” the 29-year-old brother said, who learned the details from police and his mother.
She’d be alive today if she stayed home where she belongs instead of rioting and looting. Actions have consequences.
EXACTLY!! Play stupid games win stupid prizes!! GOOTF road idiots!! You do NOT have a right to block people or intimidate people
Darwin nominee here..
So, the SUV that “ran over the mostly peaceful protester didn’t run over her at all?
Oh, what the h**l, beat the driver anyways.
If’n her butt had been at home baking cookies like she shudd’a been …….. she be live taday
“He said his sister, a mother to daughters ages 11 and 13, was active about many issues surrounding justice”. If the peaceful “rioters” were not there, no one would have died. Roads blocked off and the politicians allow that to happen and they allow the peaceful rioting.
She had her car parked in the path of oncoming traffic, and anyone is surprised it was run into? How intelligent! As far as the felon illegally having a firearm and shooting at police, why is anyone protesting that? The IQ in that area must be really low.
Actve about justice.. YEA, teaching justice, while CONDONING and celebrating rioting and looting… Talk about bassackwards!
Don’t play stupid games in traffic, sorry, no pass here.
The only “sad” thing in this story, is the driver said he didn’t MEAN to crash into them!
If I encounter a group of Domestic Terrorists blocking a public road (and, thereby, putting MY LIFE/SAFETY in jeopardy), they will be nothing more than “Speed Bumps” to me!
Didn’t these people’s mothers tell them NOT to “play in the streets”!
No. THE issue is these people THINK that THEY have a right to do ANYTHING (literally) that THEY want to (including blocking public roads, rioting, looting, destruction of private [and public] property) – without consequences!
Sorry, but I don’t give a rat’s rear end what happened to ANY of you “protesters”!
To damn bad, life is not fair.
“It has become more and more evident that Uptown continues to struggle with store closings, social unrest, crime and street closures,”
The store closings, social unrest, increasing crime are perks of a Democrat run city and state and can be laid directly at the feet of Barry Seotoro and Comrade Cho Bai Din (although he is clueless about cause and effect.)
IF there wasn’t so much RIOTING, there wouldn’ BE SO MANY Store closings!!!
It is a violation of LAW to block a road.
If the police had done their job and cleared that road, no person would have been injured and no property damaged. But the police nationally are so cowed by these “peaceful protests” that no laws are enforced. This woman died needlessly, but she died at her own hand.
No one else has any blame for her death.
ITS a dem ran hellhole.. SINCE WHEN have they cared what the damn laws say!
Says the driver was probably under the influence of drugs or booze or both. Sounds to me like the drunk driver was most likely one of their fellow rioters but he was so plastered he had no idea what he was doing. At least 2 more worthless rioters were removed from the face of the earth. No sympathy from me.
From the article:
“….during an attempt by a U.S. Marshals Service task force to arrest him in a parking ramp.”
______________________________
Wonder if anyone from the Minneapolis Police Department was involved? I mean, assuming there are any police officers left in Minneapolis to respond, that is.
If you are breaking the law, you give up your rights, and anything that happens can be attributed to you. e.g. If you are in the getaway car when the person you transported to the site kills someone, you are an accessory to the fact, and can be charged with murder.
Since she was blocking a road with her car illegally, she is responsible for her own death. Dumbasses don’t even learn the lesson when someone gets killed. She had two kids who were not being supervised by their mother, and they will turn out like her.
Might want to change that headline since it says Milwaukee and the rest of the article says Minneapolis.
It was my error but it’s also interesting that you were the first person to notice it.
Thank you and welcome to GOPUSA.
For your error.. Drop and give us twenty Burpies! On the double.. HUT HUT! 🙂
If I’m reading this right she was sitting in the road where she had placed her car as a blockade to traffic and a car (possibly an impaired driver) hit her car which got pushed into her and killed her.
If she hadn’t been using her car as a blockade and hadn’t been sitting on the street she’d probably be alive today. Peaceful protest is one thing but what she was doing was obstructing traffic and putting herself in danger. She spun the wheel and it came up short this time.
Too bad he wasn’t driving a snow plow, he might have got more of them.