Minneapolis Police Once Again Reopen Streets In Uptown Amid Protests
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The back and forth continues in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, with protesters putting barricades back up to close West Lake Street to traffic Wednesday before police moved in overnight and opened it back up.
Once again, at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, police removed the makeshift barricades used to hold the space near where now two people died.
It started as a place to protest the federal task force shooting death of Winston Smith, and grew with the death of Deona Knajdek, who was hit and killed by a driver who crashed into her group of protesters.
Investigators say Nicholas Kraus admitted to accelerating his SUV toward the crowd because he thought he could jump the barricades. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday for second-degree murder.
As people gathered Wednesday to memorialize what would have been Knajdek's 32nd birthday, some want to make it clear that -- similar to the scene at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue -- this is about more than protesting the lives lost.
Not only is there this new conflict between protesters and police, but around it homes and businesses have already been tested through the past year.
One woman who spoke with WCCO says she believes in the values of the movement but not the tactics, and that she goes to bed not knowing how things will escalate.