See original here
Protests continue in the Minneapolis area after a white police officer shot and killed a 20-year-old Black man, Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop Sunday in the suburb of Brooklyn Center. The deadly shooting took place about 10 miles from where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for killing George Floyd. Just before he was killed, Wright called his mother to say he was being pulled over allegedly because an air freshener was obscuring his rearview mirror. The Brooklyn Center police chief claims Kimberly Potter, a 26-year police veteran who has served as the police union president for the department, accidentally pulled a gun instead of a Taser.
The Star Tribune reports Daunte Wright is the sixth person killed by Brooklyn Center police since 2012. Five of the six have been men of color. "Unfortunately, there has not been a serious attempt to change the phenomenon of driving while Black, which is something that happens to Black people on a routine basis in the Twin Cities and across the state of Minnesota," says Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. We also speak with Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who says policing in the United States is as dangerous to Black and Brown people as ever. "They are deadly. They kill Black and Brown people," says Hussein.
TranscriptThis is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today's show with a warning. A warning to our audience: This segment contains graphic footage and accounts of police violence.
Protests are continuing in the Minneapolis area after a white police officer shot and killed a 20-year-old Black man, Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. The deadly shooting took place about 10 miles from where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for murdering George Floyd. On Monday, police fired tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades, as protesters defied a curfew and took to the streets, Brooklyn Center, for a second straight night. Police said 40 people were arrested. More than a dozen were also arrested during protests in Minneapolis.
Just before he was killed, Daunte Wright called his mother to say he was being pulled over allegedly because an air freshener was obscuring his rearview mirror. On Monday night, Daunte's aunt, Naisha Wright, called in to CNN.
NAISHA WRIGHT: My mother shouldn't have to be burying her grandchild. My brother, my sister, they shouldn't have to be burying their son. Not over air freshener. They stopped him over air freshener. Let's get that correct. His tag wasn't expired. My sister and them had just bought him that car. Y'all want a sitch people want to try to look for something bad to go ahead and justify this. How about we just justify this man's life was taken? They took my man's life from him. My great-nephew has to now grow up not even knowing, not even being able to touch his father. You tell me: Is it all right to take somebody's life, over what? A misdemeanor warrant just for some weed? You've got these politicians out here smoking weed. They ain't dead.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Naisha Wright, the aunt of Daunte Wright, speaking to Don Lemon on CNN.
State authorities have identified the officer who killed Daunte Wright as Kimberly Potter, a 26-year police veteran who's served as the police union president for the department. She's been placed on administrative leave. On Monday, the police chief in Brooklyn Center claimed Potter accidentally pulled her gun instead of a Taser. The police department also released bodycam footage of the shooting.
KIMBERLY POTTER: I'll tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser! Holy [bleep]! I just shot him.
POLICE OFFICER: Oh wow.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
