Protesters and police officers clashed for the second night in a row Monday over the deadly police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb.
Law enforcement officials announced Monday that Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter was the shooter and alleged that Potter thought she was using a Taser, not her firearm, The Associated Press reported. Police Chief Tim Gannon called the shooting the result of an “accidental discharge.”
Potter — who shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop and attempted arrest, law enforcement officials say — is “a 26-year veteran” of the police force and “has been placed on administrative leave,” according to the AP.
The shooting of Wright, a young Black man, by a white police officer happened two weeks into — and less than 10 miles from — the trial of Derek Chauvin, who is accused of killing George Floyd while Floyd was in police custody.
Protesters and police officer
Hundreds of protesters met outside of the Brooklyn Center Police Department and stayed past the city’s 7 p.m. curfew, Minneapolis’ KMSP Fox 9 reported. Law enforcement officers used “tear gas and flashbangs to disperse the crowd,” while protesters threw “fireworks and other objects at officers,” according to Fox 9.
- “On Monday night, people chanted ‘no justice, no peace,’ as law enforcement in riot gear stood inside a fenced enclosure outside the police department,” reported the Pioneer Press — a Twin Cities-area newspaper.
- Looters vandalized “multiple businesses in Brooklyn Center and Minneapolis,” according to Fox 9.
- “About 40 people were arrested Monday night at the Brooklyn Center protest, Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matt Langer said early Tuesday. In Minneapolis, 13 arrests were made, including for burglaries and curfew violations, police said,” the Pioneer Press reported.
Brooklyn Center mayor responds
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said on Twitter Monday night that he had spoken with some of the peaceful protesters and “assured them we are working collaboratively with all involved agencies & will get to the bottom of this.”
- “Our city is calm now, thank you all who came out to peacefully protest then went home,” Elliott added.
- Earlier in the evening, Elliott had asked protesters to disperse, writing on Twitter that “peaceful protesting is your right but I’m asking everyone to please go home.”
On Monday, Elliott “announced that the city council had voted to give his office ‘command authority’ over the police department” and that “the city manager had been fired,” the AP reported.
- Elliott and now-former city manager Curt Boganey had “publicly split” over how to discipline Potter for the shooting, The Washington Post reported.
- Boganey had said “due process” would be used, while Elliott said he fully supported “releasing the officer from her duties,” according to the Post.