Protester Who Was Killed In Uptown Identified

MINNEAPOLIS — The protester who was killed when a car drove into a crowd of demonstrators on Lake Street in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Uptown Sunday has been identified.

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 the driver from the vehicle and attacked him, witnesses told police. Officers took custody of the driver.

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

Drugs or alcohol use by the driver may have contributed to the crash, authorities said.

Read more: Deputies In Uptown Shooting Were Undercover, Won't Be Identified