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2 Cars Drove Through Mpls. Ferguson Protests

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Hundreds of protesters snarled traffic in Minneapolis Tuesday night as they marched on busy streets and highways.

Cars drove through crowds at least twice.

One particular incident involving a white van happened on Cedar Avenue South.

The driver of the white van was questioned by police and released.

Protesters are upset by Monday night's grand jury decision in Ferguson, Mo.

The grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer who shot an unarmed black teenager.

Protesters told WCCO, if it happened there, it can happen here.

"He was honking and getting mad that people wouldn't move and then he just plowed through," protestor Charlotte Johnson said.

Johnson was just feet away when the woman was hit by the car. She saw the protest quickly turn from peaceful to violent.

"And people started banging on the car because he was plowing through people. And then he just kept going and ran a young girl over and she was screaming. It was really bad," Johnson said.

Police say the woman suffered a minor injury to her leg and was being treated at Regions Hospital.

They say once the driver was away from the crowd, he pulled over and called 911 to report the accident. It's currently under investigation.

Hours later, a white van was involved in another incident with protesters. But nothing seemed to stop the crowd from getting their message across.

"Mike Brown has not seen justice and we want to see justice," one protester said.

Hundreds of protesters marched for miles, carrying signs and chanting. At one point they stopped traffic by laying down in the street.

"He stole something and yes, that should be punishable. But other people steal things all the time and they don't get shot for no reason. It's not fair. Black lives matter," a protester told WCCO.

One protester told WCCO, "it's not a Ferguson issue, it's our issue."

The large crowd of protesters started at the 3rd police precinct in Minneapolis and walked for miles.

Another large crowd in St. Paul got on Metro Transit Green Line tracks and even stopped trains for a period of time.

Protesters told WCCO stopping traffic was one way they wanted to get across their message of "justice."

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