BREAKING: Tanker truck barrels into thousands peacefully protesting on Minneapolis interstate

This reminds me of the car that barrelled into the crowd in Charlottesville.

Was the driver Islamic?

Insane.

Driver undoubtedly a Trumper piece of shit.

Who was driving?

I hope everyone was able to get out of the way. Scary shit.

The video.

“I heard that MAGA wanted to be there — that a lot of MAGA was going to be there.”

When you say “breaking,” OP, you mean it.

[quote]peacefully protesting [bold]on Minneapolis interstate[/bold]

Well there’s your problem.

I hope they dragged him out of that truck and beat him to within an inch of his life.

Why doesn't the link show the entire incident?

Curious that it came to a dead stop and stayed. I wonder if it came up an onramp unaware of the protest. Years ago when I was in a highway collision the State Patrol told me that most fatalities are because it takes so long for an 18-wheeler to stop. It looks to me like the trucker was either ignorant or had a change of heart as he could have slowed but kept rolling until clear or forced to stop.

Clip.

[quote]I wonder if it came up an onramp unaware of the protest.

Are you kidding? The interstate was closed.

Brian Williams just came on MSNBC and mentioned it but no word on injuries.

[quote] Well there’s your problem.

When thugs break the laws and call it protest they deserve what's coming to them. If the British had dealt with Gandhi when he undertook the highly illegal salt march, then they would never have lost the subcontinent.

You can protest in the way we're comfortable with but remember: civil disobedience is NOT OK, yall!

This happened yesterday in Salt Lake.

A Deplorable drove his car into the protesters, got out and drew a knife and bow and arrow on the protestors.

The protesters stomped him, the cops hauled him away. Then the protesters turned over his car and set it on fire. A punk rocker chick took a dump on it after the fire burned out.

[quote] he undertook the highly illegal salt march

[quote] This happened yesterday in Salt Lake.

Coincidence? I think not!

I eat piles and piles and PILES of shit.

Longer videos.

It looks like the semi stopped before hitting anyone, the got piled on by demonstrators.

[quote]The protesters stomped him, the cops hauled him away. Then the protesters turned over his car and set it on fire. A punk rocker chick took a dump on it after the fire burned out.

I thought you were kidding, R17

[quote] A punk rocker chick took a dump on it after the fire burned out.

MARY!

“Then the protesters turned over his car and set it on fire. A punk rocker chick took a dump on it after the fire burned out.”

The shit hit the fan(belt).

The tanker truck driver has been arrested.

That chick is taking a dump on a police car, not some random dude’s car.

Sorry, but protestors do NOT belong on interstates. Stick to city streets and sidewalks.

That’s disgusting R21!

[quote]Sorry, but protestors do NOT belong on interstates. Stick to city streets and sidewalks.

I'll try to get your message out there. THANKS.

Considering that many protesters have been surrounding cars and wailing on them regardless of anything the drivers did, I can only see more incidents like this happening.

Reuters saying no protesters were injured, but the driver was pulled out of the truck and beaten.

[quote]That chick is taking a dump on a police car, not some random dude’s car.

It's the car of the guy who tried to use a bow and arrow on the protestors.

[quote]Considering that many protesters have been surrounding cars and wailing on them regardless of anything the drivers did, I can only see more incidents like this happening.

Are you nuts? He was trying to run them over.

Was this some Reginald Denny shit?

The driving looks like it may have been an accident.

The interstate had been closed for hours. And he looks like he's accelerating at first.

I was mistaken, the Deplorable's car was a black SUV.

The punk chick is obviously squatting on the squad car.

I'm sorry, it had only been closed for an hour.

Still.

Amazing footage of the crowd swarming on top of the tractor after it came to a stop.

R32

There's been a ton of footage of protesters surrounding non-police vehicles on streets and freeways, kicking the vehicles, busting the windows, and trying to mess with the drivers and passengers.

And were any of those drivers trying to kill a bunch of people by mowing them down?

"He's crazy as fuck!" @ R37

The way Americans talk!

I'm used to reading it on DL - but it's heavy hearing it.

I see a lot of white people = Rump supporters

Just a matter of time before martial law is declared. We are fucked. Thank you whoever got that bastard elected.

Marshall Law!!!

We in Marshall Mathers law now, boyeeeee!!

Marcia Law!

I think all this news is going to give me a Grand Maul seizure!

I'm stress-eating cak with graxy like there's no tomorrow.

Straight me are so stupid.

Looks like no one was hurt. Why hasn’t the Mational Guard been called?

r45, I'm afraid the actual spelling is "Grand Mall Seizure." And that's appropriate here, since the Mall of America--the grandest mall of all!--is in the Minneapolis suburbs.

Presented with the choice of continuing to read this thread or suicide, 9 out of 10 DLers agree that suicide is preferable.

I was in the crowd of marchers, but left long before this happened. It's not clear to me if the truck driver was doing this intentionally or if he was already on the road and though it had been closed for an hour (I hear) - they didn't do a good job of blocking it off, apparently.

Will have to wait to see what he says if he's still alive.

My first thought was that it looked like he tried to slow/stop. If he was crazy enough to intentionally do this wouldn't he have kept going or just turned to the left to hit more people?

It does look like he stopped as quickly as he could.

These thugs and rioters are why nobody gives a FUCK about BLM. Let them all get run over.

I give a fuck, R52. I think it’s just you.

52 is Russian bot obviously.

R52 is a rightwing troll, he's off in other threads complaining about California "spreading their liberalism" all over the country. Probably just a crank, not a bot.

[quote] The interstate was closed.

Evidently not.

[quote] got out and drew a knife and bow and arrow on the protestors.

Who was this guy, William Tell?

Marshall's Law: never pay full price.

Happy Days!

Arrested.

MAGA.

[quote]It's not clear to me if the truck driver was doing this intentionally

Read the article at R60 and see if it's clear enough now.

Russian?

I was hoping he was a Latino, an Asian or even better, an angry Black American.

Just woke up. Accidentally read Tanker Truck as Tanya Tucker.

They said everyone was OK?

Not for lack of trying on the dude's part.

I think so, R65.

They beat up the driver pretty severely (of course). But there is video of when the police got to him, the MPD paper sprayed the crowd and opened the cruiser for this driver to willingly hop in without handcuffs.

White Surpremicist are all over the looting.

"arrest" video

I have R52 on block. thankfully.

No charges

[quote]No charges

That because Interstates are for trucks and cars, not protestors.

Bullshit.

[quote] They said everyone was OK?

Nobody asked me.

R72 deserves to get fucked with a rusty spike. Worthless cunt.

OP you fucking drama queen. You knew how you were trolling with that headline. No injuries.

[quote] No injuries.

R76 is generally right. Though there have been injuries - the mob beat up the driver and left him with visible bloody injuries.

[quote] I hope they dragged him out of that truck and BEAT him to within an inch of his life.

[quote] The interstate was closed.

[quote] The interstate had been closed for hours. And he looks like he's accelerating at first.

R10, R14, R34 - love to jump to conclusions and don’t wait for any complex road situation to be investigated.

State Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said: “It WAS NOT that he went around the barricades to get to the protest.”

CBS News: “Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) on Tuesday released video leading up to the incident. They were IN THE PROCESS of closing the interstate and the on-ramp used by the trucker HAD NOT BEEN FULLY CLOSED YET, according to MnDOT.”

The mob that assaulted the driver didn’t give him any benefit of the doubt either - and IMMEDIATELY started beating him up. He was left half-naked, covered in bloody bruises.

How ironic that a congregation protesting in support of “justice”, “due process” and “fairness” for civillian citizens - doesn’t actually believe in giving any “justice” or “due process” or “innocent until proven guilty” rights to immigrants (his family are US immigrants of Ukrainian descent).

Truckers drive tanker-trucks on freeways and don’t expect a bunch of people to appear in the middle of a freeway. Trucks that size generally can’t stop quickly (basic physics). If the driver had really wanted to “mow down” anyone - he wouldn’t have stopped.

But all these considerations fly out the window - because some people just want to scream, and physically beat up the trucker. There’s apparently no room for “doubt” in complex road incidents anymore - everyone is automatically guilty by mob-decision.

R78, could not agree more!

ABC News and KSTP (local Minnesota news) report:

[quote] "[We] obtained security camera video showing the tanker truck driver authorities say drove into a protest on I-35W driving his rig to the BP gas station at 36th Street and Lyndale Avenue prior to the incident. The video shows Vechirko pulling up to the gas tanks and dropping 8,500 gallons of gasoline into them. It also showed Vechirko chatting with the owner of the station. [bold]The owner of the gas station, Lonnie McQuirter, [a BLACK BUSINESS OWNER] said Vechirko was actually doing him and the neighborhood a FAVOR by delivering the fuel to a station that desperately needed it as many gas stations are closed. "I do not think he intentionally drove onto the freeway to injure people,” McQuirter said[/bold]. "I mean, he is always very safety conscious and [bold]he was trying to actually HELP here because there are so few gas stations.” He added, "And not many delivery trucks will come here because of the danger.”[/bold]

The disintegration of society: mob violence, mob justice, group think and demonization.

Bullshit.

My first reaction at R12 was that it looked to me like he was trying to stop. Reading further about it seems to indicate that the driver was out of his usual territory to deliver fuel to a neighborhood desperately in need. I'm not sure how he gained access to the highway.

But to the posters incensed at the mob who pulled him from the cab and beat him up, consider that he was completely surrounded--there was no where for him to escape and, given the crowd size, it must have taken authorities quite a bit of time to reach him. The protestors could have killed or fully maimed him if they wanted to. But they didn't and he walked away, on his own power, with minor injuries.

[quote]I'm not sure how he gained access to the highway.

Because the highway on-ramps weren’t fully closed yet.

[quote]The protestors could have killed or fully maimed him if they wanted to. But they didn't and he walked away, on his own power, with minor injuries.

Because the protestors are violent thugs who are doing exactly what they are protesting against: acting as judge and jury on the street against people they are wrongly accusing of having committed crimes.

[Quote] Because the protestors are violent thugs who are doing exactly what they are protesting against: acting as judge and jury on the street against people they are wrongly accusing of having committed crimes.

Protestors: A group of you run 100 yards to avoid a tanker barreling towards you and your adrenaline is pumping. You first attack the person responsible and demand to know why, you vent your frustrations...but you stop and wait for the authorities. The responsible party walks away.

Thugs: A group of you run 100 yards to avoid a tanker barreling towards you and your adrenaline is pumping. Then you kill the person responsible.

Good Cop: You go through extensive training in crisis management, therapy to understand how to manage your adrenaline surges, you collect a decent paycheck, benefits package and pension. You sometimes make mistakes but, all in all you act with integrity as a civil servant.

Bad Cop: You go through extensive training in crisis management, therapy to understand how to manage your adrenaline surges, you collect a decent paycheck, benefits package and pension...but you maim or murder innocent people just for shits and giggles.

[quote] I'm not sure how he gained access to the highway.

He gained access to the freeway via an entrance ramp that wasn’t closed, R83. Other drivers (of regular passenger cars) reported encountering the same bewildering situation - lack of warning signs or road-blocks (on certain entrance ramps), which resulted in total confusion for the drivers. Here’s a report from another driver using the freeway at around the same time:

[quote] The Star Tribune (largest newspaper in Minnesota): [bold]“One motorist said she encountered NO barricades blocking traffic onto the bridge moments before the truck sliced through the crowd.[/bold] Meaghan Pezon was driving north on 35W and saw many cars going the wrong way toward her. “I was CONFUSED and knew I should probably turn around, but there was no good place for me to do it,” she said. “My car was surrounded by protesters. When a protester first approached me, [bold]there were NO police, NO barricades, NO indication that 35 was closed.”[bold] As police swarmed in and protesters dispersed, she exited on an entrance ramp. “I really had NO IDEA what was happening on the bridge,” she said. “I just thought I was going home.”

[quote] it must have taken authorities quite a bit of time to reach him.

Doesn’t seem so. CBS News reported that police actually sprayed (possibly pepper-sprayed) the mob and got to him quite quickly, within miunutes (which possibly saved the driver from being punched & stomped into an even bloodier pulp):

[quote] [bold]“CBS Minnesota video footage also showed people climb ATOP the cab of the truck after it had stopped. Police intervened MINUTES LATER and could be seen dispersing the crowd with an AEROSOL LIQUID.”[/bold]

To be fair, some of the people did try to save the driver from the angry mob. But, ironically, based on some of the comments to the press, it seems they were more concerned about how hurting the driver would affect the perception of their cause (bad PR optics & bad "narrative"), rather than any real concern for his life & health. The way they said it, it doesn't seem they even considered the possibility that the driver of a truck who slammed the breaks (instead of a hit-and-run) might be innocent, and that the mob was "beating up pretty badly" a potentially innocent person:

[quote] Star Tribune: “He got BEAT UP PRETTY BAD,” said Justin Goeman, who came to the driver’s defense until police reached him. “If we hurt this man, it defeats our purpose. ... I cannot imagine what the narrative would be if we hurt that man.”

The entire incident was like a bizarre horror show - but the (darkly) funny bit came from MN Governor Tim Walz, who said the driver was lucky “Minnesotans showed their better ANGELS” on that bridge Sunday. Well, I don’t know about that… The guy got beaten up, he reported his wallet and phone got stolen on that interstate - and who knows what would have happened to him if the police hadn’t intervened quickly & used aerosol liquid to clear the angry crowd away from him. His pregnant wife reported that she got some strange, intimidating calls from the stolen phone, while the driver was in custody, so some people decided to harass his family as well.

^Oops, ignore the bold font.

[quote] The protestors could have killed or fully maimed him if they wanted to. But they didn't and he walked away, on his own power, with minor injuries.

[quote] You first attack the person responsible and demand to know why, you vent your frustrations...but you stop and wait for the authorities.

The driver was covered in bloody streaks - in terms of vigilante justice, I think that’s excessive force and goes a bit further than simply “venting one’s frustrations”. And there’s no telling if the mob (apart from the ones defending the driver) intended to stop or wait for the police - when it arrived, the police sprayed the crowd away.

“Minor injuries” is a bit of a broad term. In legal terms, it’s e.g. a punch to the face or the groin, without loss of bodily function. “Major injuries” is e.g. a kick in the stomach that causes damage to internal organs. Both can be quite painful. The only difference is that the second type causes more serious damage.

They could have easily killed/maimed the driver without even wanting to. It’s kind of the problem with melee-type fights - it can cause sudden, unintentional damage.

A bit off-topic, but I remember that infamous 2017 case from the Las Vegas strip - a random guy managed to unintentionally kill another random guy with one single punch to the temple. It was reported as a “1-punch death”. The attacker didn’t actually plan to kill the victim - it seems he just wanted to make one swing. I can’t remember if the victim had a pre-existing condition, or if the punch just landed on that part of the temple which is more sensitive. It was very random and unanticipated. But both lives were essentially over: the victim (in his 40s, father of 5) died 4 days later, and the attacker (in his 30s) was incarcerated & threw his life away over a single swing/punch:

[quote] “The taller [attacker] walked right up to my brother’s face and said something like, ‘What are you looking at?’” [the victim’s brother] said … “And he just struck my brother once. The whole thing was like [only], three, four seconds long.” The victim collapsed, unconscious. 4 days later, he was pronounced dead.”

[quote]the driver of a truck who slammed the breaks

Oh, dear!

Twitter has already decided he's guilty and the driver used his privilege to get away with it.

I'm just glad that the guy is still alive and none of the protesters got hurt.

Everybody needs to just drop it.

R91, I don't think everybody should just drop it. I think there should be an investigation why the Minnesota authorities reportedly failed to put up barricades/signs to close off all interstate entrances (which resulted in total confusion and panic for multiple drivers and near-death for many pedestrians walking on the freeway). Also this: "Eyewitnesses also described children in the path of the truck".

If people are even bringing kids with them on a freeway - either the freeway should be properly closed off (as it should have been by 5pm local time apparently) or, if all freeway entrances can't be properly secured - then don't let people, especially minors, walk on the interstate. Otherwise, it's just a recipe for disaster.

Again, people don’t belong on Interstates.

[quote] "Lonnie McQuirter [the black owner of the gas station, for whom the driver was delivering fuel) said authorities he’s spoken to expressed concern for his business, both because it’s black-owned and because he stood up for Vechirko, who is white. “I guess I’ve really upset both ends of the spectrum here,” he said. McQuirter voiced frustration with initial reporting on the incident, which he said painted Vechirko as a “terrorist” barreling through protestors with thousands of gallons of gas, neither of which turned out to be true."

this reminds me of when an Islamic terrorist plowed his car into a crowd of people gathered for the birthday parade of DL fave Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands. A bunch of people died and she had to make a rare TV appearance to talk about it to the people.

[quote] State authorities are declining to charge any of the many protesters on the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis who attacked and injured a truck driver who barreled through marchers demonstrating in reaction to George Floyd’s death.

The decision comes as authorities press ahead with their criminal investigation of the driver, 35-year-old Bogdan Vechirko, and also try and figure out why his route to the bridge hadn’t been impeded miles earlier.

In explaining why the enraged people on the bridge will not be prosecuted, state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension spokeswoman Jill Oliveira said Wednesday that “the scope of the BCA investigation was to determine the intent of the truck driver.”

And when investigators questioned Vechirko, they learned the trucker from Otsego was not interested in helping authorities build cases against those who went after him.

“The truck driver indicated to the BCA that he does not wish for charges to be filed against anyone for his injuries or damage sustained during the incident,” Oliveira said.

Vechirko suffered cuts to his face, and his wife said this week that his cellphone, wallet and other items in the truck’s cab were stolen. The assault stopped only after others on the bridge and police intervened.

In the meantime, investigators continue to look into the potentially deadly actions of Vechirko, who was released from jail Tuesday as the probe continues amid anger from people on the bridge and others that he has not been prosecuted for what authorities initially alleged was assault.

“Even once he got into the crowd, instead of going down the middle, where the crowd had already cleared out, he veered left, stopped, then kept pushing through the crowd despite the people in front of him,” said Rachael Wright, who along with all the others avoided being hit. “So maybe the first plow through wasn’t enough to show intent, but the second was.”

State Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington at first seemed to exonerate Vechirko on Monday and said he “panicked” and wasn’t aiming for the protesters. But he reversed course a day later, saying, “we are certainly getting to the right charge that holds him accountable.”

State officials also are trying to piece together why barricades meant to protect the thousands of marchers weren’t in place in time to prevent the speeding truck and several other vehicles from coming upon the crowd massed on the bridge over the Mississippi River.

Harrington said the BCA directed the Minnesota Department of Public Transportation (MnDOT) to seal off the necessary interstate ramps by 5 p.m. to protect the marchers as they made their way from U.S. Bank Stadium to the bridge.

Vechirko was returning from a fuel delivery to a south Minneapolis gas station when he got on Interstate 94 via the Hennepin/Lyndale ramp at 5:44 p.m., that MnDOT spokesman Jeremy Loesch said was not barricaded in time to protect protesters a few miles away congregating Sunday on the I-35W Bridge. The truck would end up nearly hitting many of the marchers.

Harrington said his agency should not bear any blame for the potentially tragic circumstances.

“I don’t see us as being culpable,” he said. “When you suddenly have a group of people run out into traffic, how fast can you … get the traffic stopped becomes problematic.

“We had a very quick response. Under different circumstances, I would have preferred to have had that highway shut down hours before. Then there would have been little to no chance that [truck being on the bridge] would have happened.”

[quote] Harrington said the BCA directed the Minnesota Department of Public Transportation (MnDOT) to seal off the necessary interstate ramps by 5 p.m.

[quote] [the driver] got on Interstate 94 via the Hennepin/Lyndale ramp at 5:44 p.m., that MnDOT spokesman Jeremy Loesch said was not barricaded in time to protect protesters a few miles away

[quote] Harrington said his agency should not bear any blame for the potentially tragic circumstances. “I don’t see us as being culpable,” he said. “When you suddenly have a group of people run out into traffic, how fast can you … get the traffic stopped becomes problematic. “We had a very quick response.

So the direction was to close the ramp entrance by 5pm. The ramp entrance was still not closed 44 minutes later. The protesters were only a “few miles” from the ramp. The State Public Safety Commissioner describes it as a “quick response”, denies negligence by his own agency.

[quote] “The truck driver indicated to the BCA that he does not wish for charges to be filed against anyone for his injuries or damage sustained during the incident,” Oliveira said.

[quote] the probe continues amid anger from people on the bridge and others that he has not been prosecuted

Well, apparently some of those people want to hold someone “accountable”. And it won’t be themselves for getting on an interstate - or the State Public Safety Commissioner (who claims the people “ran out into traffic” too “suddenly” for the ramp to be closed).

The psychopath driver is RUSSIAN. Of course!

All of those protesters should TORCH the Russian embassy in every city!

R98/R99 is so ethnically-obtuse that in his haste he brands an American-Ukrainian a "psychopath". Congratulations. BOGDAN Vechirko is a US citizen of Ukrainian ethnicity, born in Chervonohrad, Lviv district, Western region of Ukraine (at that time it was a member-state of the USSR). His family emigrated to the US when he was a pre-schooler and he grew up as a US citizen.

Both the Ukrainian community in Minnesota and his African-American work friends have rallied behind him. And, based on current reports, he's most likely innocent.

[quote] “The Ukrainian community in Minnesota describes [Vechirko] as "an Ukrainian, a peaceful Christian, a good family man, an honest and decent person." The Ukrainian community said that Bogdan Vechirko was raised in an evangelical Christian family. According to sources in the Ukrainian community, the Vechirko family emigrated to the United States [from the USSR which taught Atheism] when he was 5 years old as religious refugees. His family is from Chervonohrad, Lviv region [Western Ukraine, near Poland]. According to sources, Bogdan Vechirko is currently expecting his first child, his wife Lyudmila is eight months pregnant and comes from Transnistria [Moldova Republic].”