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u.s. news Diahuebs 17 Juni 2021

Man who drove at Minneapolis protesters charged with murder

(AP) - A St. Paul man accused of held at the Hennepin County jail, The Minnesota National Guard
speeding up and driving into a which does not take messages for tweeted that — at the request of the
group of protesters in Minneapo- people in custody. city — it was prepared to send about
lis while he was drunk, killing one 100 soldiers to Minneapolis in the
person, was charged Wednesday Protests have been ongoing in Up- event of unrest.
with intentional second-degree town since members of a U.S. Mar-
murder. shals Service task force fatally shot Witnesses have said Kraus was driving
Winston Boogie Smith Jr., a 32-year- an SUV when he struck a parked car,
Prosecutors say Nicholas Kraus, 35, old Black man and father of three, sending it into the crowd of demon-
was visibly intoxicated Sunday night on June 3. Authorities said they were strators. Police said protesters pulled
when he sped up and tried to “jump” trying to arrest Smith on a warrant Kraus from his vehicle and witnesses
a car that was being used as a barri- for being a felon in possession of a reported demonstrators struck him.
cade by protesters in the city’s Up- firearm when he displayed a handgun Kraus was arrested and treated for in-
town neighborhood. Deona Knajdek, from inside a parked SUV. Authori- juries at a hospital.
31, was killed. ties also say evidence shows Smith
fired his gun from inside the SUV, Kraus has five convictions for driving
There’s nothing in the criminal com- but a female passenger has said she while impaired dating back to a 2007
plaint to suggest Kraus’ actions were never saw him with a gun. incident, according to online court
motivated by political views or anger records. At one point, he told offi-
at protesters. The murder count al- Minneapolis has been on edge since cers that the SUV he was driving on
leges Kraus intended to cause death, the death of George Floyd, who died Sunday was in another person’s name
but his actions were not premedi- last year after an officer used his knee because he had no license due to his
tated. He’s also charged with two to pin Floyd’s neck to the ground, drunken driving offenses, the com- complete the test,” the affidavit said.
counts of second-degree assault with and the fatal police shooting of an- plaint says. Court records show his
a dangerous weapon, for injuring two other Black man, Daunte Wright, in driver’s license was canceled in 2013. Results from the blood tests are
other protesters. a nearby suburb. pending.
A search warrant affidavit seeking
According to the criminal complaint, On Tuesday, city crews began clear- a blood sample from Kraus says he Other injuries and deaths have been
Kraus told officers he saw the car and ing and reopening streets near the site admitted several times that he was reported involving vehicles at protests
believed he needed to get over it. He of Smith’s shooting and Knajdek’s the driver, without being asked, but across the U.S. as people have in-
said he saw people in the area, but “he death, but after police left, protest- when asked specific questions he creasingly taken to the streets to press
accelerated in order to try and jump ers moved back in and blocked traf- gave illogical and irrelevant answers. their grievances. In Minneapolis,
the barricade and acknowledged that fic. Police say 30 people were arrested Kraus told police his name was Jesus marching onto freeways has become
he did not attempt to brake,” the Tuesday night, with most receiving Christ and Tim Burton, that he had a common tactic. Last year, a semi-
complaint says. It also says he admit- misdemeanor citations. been a carpenter for 2,000 years, and trailer rolled into a crowd marching
ted that he thought he might have hit that he wanted to get his children to on a closed freeway. No one was seri-
someone. The street was open to traffic Wednes- the Super Bowl, the affidavit says. ously injured.
day afternoon. Though obstructions
Kraus will make his first court ap- to traffic were removed, a memorial The officer tried to perform a field Republican politicians in several
pearance Friday and it wasn’t imme- featuring messages in chalk and flow- sobriety test, but Kraus “was unable states, including Oklahoma, Florida
diately clear if he had an attorney to ers left by mourners remained intact. to follow directions and would not and Iowa, have sought legal immu-
comment on his behalf. He’s being keep his eyes open long enough to nity for drivers who hit protesters.

Senators would stop 'micropolitan' label for 144 US cities

(AP) - Some lawmakers urban core to 100,000 peo- Management from making a metropolitan statistical area. be considered a ‘metropoli-
are trying to stop 144 U.S. ple. the change. Cities losing this status, with tan statistical area’ would ad-
cities from losing their core populations of 50,000 versely affect communities in
designations as “metro- Sens. John Thune, a Repub- Under the federal govern- to 99,000 people, would be- nearly every state, including
politan areas” as the fed- lican from South Dakota, and ment’s proposal, a metro come “micropolitan” statisti- South Dakota,” Thune said.
eral government updates Mark Kelly, a Democrat from area would need double the cal areas instead.
its standards, doubling the Arizona, introduced legisla- 50,000-person threshold that Federal statisticians recom-
minimum number of resi- tion on Tuesday that would has been in place for the past More than a third of the cur- mending the change say it’s
dents required in a city’s stop the Office of Budget and 70 years in order to count as rent 392 metro areas would long overdue, given that the
become micro areas, includ- U.S. population has more
ing state capitals such as Bis- than doubled since the
marck, N.D.; Carson City, 50,000-person threshold was
Nevada; Cheyenne, Wyo- introduced in 1950. Back
ming; and Santa Fe, New then, about half of U.S. resi-
Mexico; as well as the college dents lived in metros; now,
towns of Ames, Iowa; Au- 86% do.
burn, Alabama; Charlottes-
ville, Va.; Lawrence, Kansas; The Office of Budget and
and State College, Pennsyl- Management hasn’t said
vania. when it will make a final deci-
sion. If approved, it wouldn’t
take effect until 2023.
The lawmakers said the
downgrade would cause real An agency spokesman didn’t
harm, preventing urban ar- return an email or a phone
eas from getting designated call on Wednesday. The of-
federal funding and making fice has said the designation
them less attractive for eco- is purely for statistical pur-
nomic development. poses and not to be used for
funding formulas, though as
“Increasing the population a practical matter, that is how
threshold that is needed to it’s often used.