US News

George Floyd protesters saved trucker who barreled into them: Minn. gov

The driver of a truck that barreled into Minnesota protesters decrying the death of George Floyd told authorities that a majority of the marchers protected him from being beaten afterward, the state’s governor said Monday.

Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials said it appeared that trucker Bogdan Vechirko did not intend to mow people down.

And “the driver noted afterward, after he was told he didn’t kill anyone, he noted the crowd, the vast majority, were protecting him,” Walz said. “The protesters were protecting the driver, who they had just seen appear to have run into the crowd, because they realized how dangerous the situation was.”

The governor, in discussing the incident, referred to the infamous 1991 case involving LA driver Rodney King, who was dragged from his car by cops and severely beaten.

“Peaceful protesters in Minneapolis and St. Paul protected this [trucker], even after we saw what appeared at the time, an attempt to kill them,” Walz said of Sunday’s incident in Minnesota.

Protests erupted in Minnesota, throughout the US, including New York City, and beyond over Floyd’s death.

The 46-year-old black man died after a white Minnesota cop knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes during what should have been a routine arrest over an alleged counterfeit $20 bill — a horrific incident caught on video footage.