Last Updated on June 2, 2020
Bogdan Vechirko, the Minneapolis trucker who drove through a group of protesters on a bridge, has been released without charges, as law enforcement revealed Tuesday.
Vechirko, 35, is still under investigation by prosecutors, though the nature of the alleged crimes he is under investigation for is wholly unclear. The semi-truck being driven by Vechirko came to a stop halfway along the bridge where the protest was taking place, after which the mob swarmed and attacked the truck.
The family of Vechirko has released a video in which Vechirko’s pregnant wife explains that their family is struggling after the truck driver’s wallet, credit cards, phone, and other essential belongings were all stolen by the protesters who dragged Vechirko out of the truck and began beating him.
Friends and family of Vechirko have also vouched for his character, as reported by the Star Tribune:
The couple’s financial situation is under pressure from Bogdan Vechirko missing work, his wife being pregnant and the potential for legal bills in connection with the incident, Loghinov said.
“They are not a rich family,” Loghinov said. “He is a hard worker and the only one bringing money to the family.
Loghinov said Bogdan Vechirko came to the United States from Russia when he was 4 years old and met Liudmila in Minnesota.
“He’s a nice, friendly guy,” Loghinov said. “He was just going home.”
Police have stated that no protesters were harmed during the incident and that Vechirko had no intention of harming anyone, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has said he believes the trucker was “confused” by the pandemonium resulting from the protest.
In February, a truck drove through a protest by indigenous activists in Canada while Motley Crue blared through the speakers.
In the video, protestors can be seen taking up positions on both sides of the road, holding banners.
The driver accelerates as the guitar riffs of Motley Crue’s “Take Me to the Top” blare out of the cabin windows.
A Confederate flag on the dashboard flaps in the wind as the truck accelerates through the blockade. A protester appears to briefly try to stand in the lifted truck’s path before stepping to the side and holding a banner in front of the vehicle.
The truck unceremoniously plows through the banner and quickly leaves the protest in the rear view mirror and crosses over the highway’s grass median.
The person filming in the passenger seat yells “F*** yeah” over the crescendo of Motley Crue riffs.
According to Global News Canada, the protesters were a member of an indigenous tribe protesting oil pipelines, and the police are “investigating” the incident.
The legality of driving through public highways illegally blockaded by political protesters has become a hotly contested subject in the news.
