Minneapolis police shooting: Unrest after cop shoots 20-year-old Black man

Demonstrators in large numbers gathered in the Minneapolis suburb on Monday to mourn and protest the death of a young Black man named Duante Wright, who succumbed to a gunshot wound after white officers engaged at the scene. Wright had attempted to drive away fearing for his life as officers demanded that he pulls over. Shortly after the 20-year-old jumped in the car and drove a few miles away, panicking, the said officers opened fire that killed Wright, as he crashed some blocks away. Witnessing the shooting, a group of youngsters confronted the officers and jumped on the police vehicle sparking mass anti-police brutality protests around the city. 

Local KTLA5 broadcaster aired visuals wherein the angry mob surrounded the Brooklyn Center police department building, and hurled objects and rocks at the officers following the incident. They were shortly joined by the other demonstrators at early hours of Monday morning, that waved flags and signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “Justice for Daunte Wright.” Daunte’s mother told local reporters of NBC affiliate KARE at the scene that her son called her saying the cops were pulling him over for having air fresheners, which they could see dangling from his rear-view mirror. She then heard scuffle sounds and vehicle screech as the phone call abruptly terminated. “A minute later I called, and his girlfriend answered, which was the passenger in the car, and said that he’d been shot,” the outlet quoted Katie Wright’s official statement. 

A mob of protesting residents on Monday confronted the officers in riot gear that clashed with demonstrators in the metropolitan area, where tensions were imminent as George Floyd’s trial is underway. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tweeted that he was praying for Wright’s family “as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement.” Reports suggest that the Minneapolis police department did not immediately identify Wright, but the protests had already swelled as fresh wave anger swept the across the city situated northwest border of Minneapolis. 

[Image Credit: AP]

[Image Credit: AP]

[Image Credit: AP]

Wright’s girlfriend who sustained injuries was at the time of the incident beside the victim. Katie Wright, the victim’s mother, told Associated Press: “All he did was have air fresheners in the car and they [Police] told him to get out of the car.” During the call, she said she heard scuffling and then someone saying “Daunte, don’t run” before the call ended. When she called back, her son’s girlfriend answered and said he’d had been shot.”

Had 'outstanding warrant', say officers

In a statement, Brooklyn Center police issued a differing account saying that officers engaged with a motorist, who had an outstanding warrant, after he refused to get out of the car. An officer tried to arrest the driver after he stepped outside but he hastily re-entered the vehicle and attempted to drive. It was at this point that the cop shot at the vehicle after it had driven “several blocks away.” The department added, that Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the victim’s identity after a preliminary autopsy and family’s approval. Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said at a news conference that protesters attacked the officers as they attempted to disperse the mob at 1:15 a.m. Monday. The crowd ransacked at least 20 businesses at the city’s Shingle Creek shopping center, Harrington said, adding that the National Guard was activated. He said that the department had asked the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate the incident. 

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott announced a curfew in the city as he tweeted, “We want to make sure everyone is safe. Please be safe and please go home.”

(Image Credit: AP)