Man Charged In Killing Of Protester In Uptown: Officials

MINNEAPOLIS — A St. Paul man has been charged following a fatal crash on Sunday after authorities say he drove into a crowd of demonstrators on Lake Street in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Uptown.

Nicholas Kraus, 35, was charged with intentional second-degree murder and is accused of striking and killing a woman while drunk. At the time of the crash, Kraus had a suspended license and multiple DWI convictions, according to the Hennepin County Attorney. He was also driving an SUV that was registered to another person.

Officials said Kraus admitted to driving his SUV in the Uptown area and, when he saw the barricade, he felt the need to "get over it."

Police say Kraus also told them he did not brake and accelerated in an attempt to jump the barricade, despite seeing people. He also said he thought he might hit someone as he was driving toward the barricade, according to the complaint.

Kraus will appear in court on Thursday afternoon.

“The defendant, Mr. Kraus, in the Uptown fatal incident in which he struck and killed a peaceful female protestor while intoxicated, and injured additional protestors, is an extreme and violent intentional act," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a prepared statement. "His behavior and admittance to intentionally driving towards the protestors is one important reason why we have charged him with intentional second-degree murder.”

The woman who was killed, Deona M. Knajdek, of Minneapolis, would have turned 32 Wednesday, the Star Tribune reported. Knajdek had two daughters, ages 11 and 13.

Before the fatal crash, Minneapolis police were monitoring a protest at West Lake Street and Girard Avenue South, close to where Winston Boogie Smith Jr. was fatally shot by a federal task force on June 3.

Just after 11:30 p.m., a car drove into the group of protesters, police said. Protesters pulled Kraus from the vehicle and attacked him, witnesses told police.

Knajdek and another protester were taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center. Knajdek died at the hospital.

A victim who sustained injuries told police Kraus' SUV came barreling towards the group of protesters and hit one of the barricades with such force that it was pushed back into the group of bystanders, according to Freeman. That victim also said Kraus began accelerating as he neared the barricades and pedestrians.

Surveillance video from the area corroborates this information, officials said.

On Tuesday, Minneapolis Police posted images on Facebook of a person they say climbed a pole and spray painted a city-owned camera in the area of Lake Street West and Girard. According to police, this camera would have caught the fatal crash, providing law enforcement with critical evidence in the prosecution of Kraus, had it not been blocked by the spray paint.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.

The National Guard announced Wednesday afternoon it has activated approximately 100 soldiers following a request from the city of Minneapolis in response to civil unrest.

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