BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) – Police clashed with protesters for a second night in the Minneapolis suburb, where an official according to authorities appears to be trying to fire a Taser, not a gun, fatally shot a black man during a traffic stop.
Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon described the shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright as an “accidental discharge.” The shooting sparked protests and riots in an area that was already on the edge due to the trial of the first of four police officers. accused of the death of George Floyd.
Hundreds of protesters clashed with police at Brooklyn Center after Monday night, and hours after the governor announced a curfew at dawn. When protesters did not disperse, police began firing gas drums and flash-bang grenades, sending clouds over the crowd and chasing some protesters. A long line of policemen with riot gear, who were rhythmically pushing their canes in front of them, began to slowly force the rest of the crowds.
“Move back!” sang the police. “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” The crowd sang again.
By the end of Monday, only a few dozen protesters remained.
Police agencies had stepped up their presence in the Minneapolis area following Sunday night’s violence. The number of Minnesota National Guard troops was expected to double to more than 1,000 by Monday night.
Earlier Monday, authorities released body camera footage showing the officer shouting at Wright as police tried to arrest him.
“I’ll put you in Tase! Tase Tase! Taser! Taser! Taser! ”Can be heard saying. She pulls out her gun after the man frees himself from the police outside his car and gets back behind the wheel.
After firing a single shot from his pistol, the car accelerates and the officer is heard saying, “Holy (expletive)! I shot him. “
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott called the shooting “deeply tragic” and said the officer should be fired.
“We will do everything we can to ensure that justice is done and that our communities are integrated,” he said.
Elliott later announced that the city council had voted to give his office “command authority” over the police department.
This will “streamline things and establish a chain of command and leadership,” he wrote on Twitter. He also said the city manager had been fired and the deputy city manager would take up his duties.
The reason for the shooting was not immediately clear, but the city manager controls the police department, according to the city letter. Former city director Curt Boganey, speaking earlier with reporters, declined to say whether he believed the officer should be fired and that he would get the “due process” after the shooting.
The Brooklyn Center is a modest suburb north of Minneapolis that has seen its demographics change dramatically in recent years. In 2000, more than 70% of the city was white. Today, most residents are black, Asian, or Latino.
Elliott, the city’s first black mayor, emigrated from Liberia as a child. He was accompanied Monday night by Keith Ellison, the state’s first black attorney general, who addressed a group of protesters not far from the police department, who told protesters to use his voice but that they were safe.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of this, we’re going to make sure there’s justice, that there are responsible agents,” Elliott can be heard protesting in a video posted by a Minneapolis television journalist KARE.
Ellison reminded the crowd that he is currently leading the prosecution of the first officer accused of Floyd’s death and promised that Wright’s death will not be “swept under the rug.”
Body camera footage showed three officers around a parked car, which authorities said they removed because they had expired registration tags. When another officer tries to handcuff Wright, a second officer tells him he is being arrested with a warrant. That’s when the fight begins, followed by the shooting. The car then travels several blocks before hitting another vehicle.
Gannon said he believed the officer intended to use the Taser, but instead fired a bullet at Wright. For “what I saw and the agent’s reaction with anguish immediately afterwards, there was an accidental discharge which caused the tragic death of Mr. Wright.”
Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a statement.
The state criminal detention office, which is investigating the shooting, identified the officer as Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran who has been placed on administrative leave.
Gannon would not say if she would be fired.
“I think we can watch the video and see if he comes back,” the boss said.
Judicial records show Wright was wanted after failing to appear in court accused of fleeing officers and possessing an unlicensed weapon during a meeting with Minneapolis police in June.
Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, said her son called her while he was being attracted.
During the call, he said he heard beetles and then someone saying “Daunte, don’t run” before the call ended. When he called again, his son’s girlfriend answered and said he had been shot.
His brother, Dallas Bryant, said Monday night to a hundred people gathered to hold a candlelight vigil that Wright appeared frightened during the phone call and asked how the officer could confuse a gun with a Taser.
“You know the difference between plastic and metal. We all know that, ”he said.
Protesters began gathering shortly after the shooting, with some jumping on top of police cars. The merchants also went down to the city police headquarters, throwing rocks and other objects. About 20 companies were raided at the city’s Shingle Creek Mall, authorities said.
Trial continues against Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis officer charged with Floyd’s death Monday. Floyd, a black man, died on May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck. Prosecutors say Floyd was set for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. The judge in that case on Monday refused to kidnap the jury after a defense attorney argued the court could influence the prospect of what could happen as a result of his verdict.
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis, Aaron Morrison in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Jonathan Lemire in Washington contributed to this report.
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Mohamed Ibrahim is a member of the body of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit services program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on covert issues.