20 YEAR OLD BLACK MAN DAUNTE WRIGHT SHOT DEAD IN MINNEAPOLIS BY POLICE OFFICER
A 20-year-old unarmed Daunte Wright was shot by a police officer in Minneapolis during an arrest attempt. Officers pulled over Daunte Wright for a traffic violation,, When they discovered he had an outstanding warrant they had tried to take him into custody, Shots were fired when the young man tried to escape.
JUMP to : President Biden and VP Kamala Harris responds to Daunte Wright Shooting
The officer involved in the shooting is 48 year old Kim Potter who was a police union president for 26 years. Authorities have released the body cam footages of the scene at an earlier news conference. “It appears that Potter intended to fire her Taser but instead made an “accidental discharge” from her gun”. Police Chief Tim Gannon of the Brooklyn Centre police told the media. Officer Kim Potter has been suspended pending the results of a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation.
However huge protests have broken out in Minneapolis. Police have been using tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd at Brooklyn Centre.
The 20-year-old Black man’s mother Katie Wright told a crowd that he called her to say he had been pulled over by police, she said she heard officers tell her son to put his phone down, and then one of the officers ended the call. Soon after, her son’s girlfriend told her he had been shot.
Photos from the protests showed men stomping on the windshield of a police cruiser. Police fired nonlethal rounds to try to disperse the protesters, according to the Star Tribune.
After about an hour, the police presence eased, and the crowd lit candles and wrote messages such as “Justice for Daunte Wright” in chalk on the street.
Daunte Wright’s Parents Speak up
The parents of Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old killed by police during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn Center, said Tuesday that they want justice for their son’s death.
Katie Wright and Aubrey Wright appeared on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday to talk about their son’s death. Katie Wright described her last conversation with her son, which took place as he was being pulled over by police.
“The police officers … asked Daunte to step out of the car, and Daunte said, ‘For what? Am I in trouble?'” Katie Wright said. “The officer said, ‘We’re going to explain that when you step out of the car.'” She said she heard the phone being put down roughly, and then she heard the sound of scuffling and screaming from the girl who was in the car with Daunte.
The phone call ended a short while after that.
“I tried to call back three, four times,” Katie Wright said through tears. “And then the girl that was with him answered the phone, and they said that they shot him, and he was laying in the driver’s seat unresponsive.” Aubrey Wright told “Good Morning America” that he “cannot accept” the explanation given by police that the officer who fired the fatal shot, Officer Kim Potter, appeared to have mistook her handgun for her Taser gun.
“I lost my son,” Aubrey Wright said. “He’s never coming back. I can’t accept that — a mistake? That doesn’t even sound right. You know, this is an officer that’s been on the force for 26 years. I can’t accept that.
President Biden and VP Kamala Harris responds to Daunte Wright Shooting
President Joe Biden also tweeted in response to the shooting.
“Today I’m thinking about Daunte Wright and his family — and the pain, anger and trauma that Black America experiences every day,” he tweeted. “While we await a full investigation, we know what we need to do to move forward: rebuild trust and ensure accountability so no one is above the law.”
Vice President Kamala Harris took to Twitter late Monday to react to the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
“Prayers are not enough,” she wrote. “Daunte Wright should still be with us. While an investigation is underway, our nation needs justice and healing, and Daunte’s family needs to know why their child is dead — they deserve answers.”