A Minneapolis police officer in the suburban city seemed to pull out his gun by mistake, instead of her taser, when the female officer shot a young black man to death during a traffic stop, said the police chief on Monday, hours before the second night of the riots triggered by the killing.
Family members of the killed motorist, Daunte Wright, 20, rejected the idea that a mere accident had to be blamed for Sunday’s shooting at Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, with a grieving brother denouncing the police officials as “trigger happy.”
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The shooting roiled the region already on edge, primarily because of the murder of George Floyd last year, a black man who was killed while his neck was pinned under the knee of the White Police officer, was being retold in graphic details in the trial of the former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, charged with his murder.
Wright was killed just 10 miles from the place where Floyd, 46, lost his life when arrested for allegedly passing a fake $20 bill, prompting national protests that lasted months against racial injustice in the US’s law enforcement system.
Brooklyn Center police chief, Tim Gannon, said during a news briefing on Monday that Wright was drawn for expired vehicle registration and that the shooting seemed unintentional, assessing from the initial review of the police video footage. “This came to me, from what I saw and the reaction of officers and trouble immediately after that, that this was a deliberate vaginal discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright,” Gannon said.
On Monday, Hennepin County’s medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, confirming in the autopsy that a gunshot wound to his chest killed Wright. Sunday shooting immediately sparked one night of the battle between the police and protesters in Brooklyn Center, with local news media reporting incidents of looting and theft of around 20 businesses in the nearest shopping center.
Disorders flared again on Monday as hundreds of protesters challenged the curfew ordered by Governor Walz clashed with law enforcement as the darkness fell outside the police headquarters in Brooklyn Center. The crowd surged against the fence, which was established to keep the protesters; some threw bottles and other projectiles and illuminated the fireworks when the police responded by firing tear gas and what appeared to be non-lethal plastic rounds.
The closest discount store was looted and damaged, but most demonstrators dispersed by10 pm. Soon after law and order was restored in the area, the police reported 40 arrests at Brooklyn Center for violations ranging from curfew violations as well as allegations of riots. Three officers suffered mild injuries from debris thrown at them, the authorities said. The police in Minneapolis said several people were arrested there in connection with five retail theft.
