Photo: YouTube
On Sunday, April 11th, Minnesota Police once again killed a Black man, this time the victim of trigger-happy policing was Daunte Wright.
The 20-year-old was allegedly pulled over because he reportedly had air fresheners dangling from the mirror inside his car. Police then claim they tried to arrest Wright who is said was shot as he tried to get back into his car.
The shooting death by police enraged area residents, especially since the murder of George Floyd happened not far away from where Wright’s life was taken. The killing sparked protests on Sunday night into Monday morning, some of which turned violent as police in riot gear clashed with demonstrators.
The mother of Daunte Wright pleaded for calm.
Katie Wright told the protesters: “All the violence, if it keeps going it’s only going to be about the violence. We need it to be about why my son got shot for no reason. We need to make sure it’s about him and not about smashing police cars, because that’s not going to bring my son back.”
The ACLU of Minnesota released the following statement:
“Police killed Daunte Wright, 20, during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center Sunday afternoon. Yet another Black life was taken by those sworn to protect, and we join the community in mourning Wright’s loss.
Initial details are troubling to the ACLU of Minnesota. Wright’s mother told several news outlets that she was on the phone with her son when he was pulled over for having a dangling air freshener on his car window. She said they asked him to get out of the car, but wouldn’t say why. Then she heard scuffling and gunshots.
Brooklyn Center Police said in a press release that they’d pulled Wright over for a traffic stop, learned he had an outstanding warrant, and that he re-entered the vehicle while they were trying to take him into custody. One officer shot Wright, whose vehicle traveled several blocks before striking another vehicle. He died at the scene.
The ACLU of Minnesota calls for an immediate, transparent and independent investigation by an outside agency other than the Brooklyn Center Police or the BCA, and for the quick release of any body-cam footage. We call for the naming of all officers and agencies involved. The ACLU-MN has deep concerns that police here appear to have used dangling air fresheners as an excuse for making a pretextual stop, something police do all too often to target Black people. The warrant appears to be for a non-felony.
While we are waiting to learn more, we must reiterate that police violence and killings of people of color must end, as must the over-policing and racial profiling that are endemic to our white supremacist system of policing.
Police shootings are always tragic, and the situation here is made even more worse by this happening during a trial seeking justice for George Floyd.
The ACLU of Minnesota is watching, and we will keep working to hold police accountable.”
