A call for justice, reform at funeral of Minnesota man shot by police
Wright mourners include top state officials, Floyd relatives
MINNEAPOLIS — Mourners including Minnesota’s top political leaders filled a north Minneapolis church Thursday to honor the life of a 20-year-man killed by Brooklyn Center police, and to demand justice.
The funeral for Daunte Demetrius Wright Thursday filled the Shiloh Temple International Ministries with friends, family and others who have had loved ones killed by police including relatives of George Floyd, Philando Castile, Jamar Clark and Oscar Grant.
National civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy for the 20-year-old father, noting that some compared Wright’s funeral procession to that of Prince.
“We came to bury the prince of Brooklyn Center. We came from all over the country because you hurt one of our princes,” Sharpton said. “You thought he was just some kid with an air freshener. He was a prince. All of Minneapolis has stopped today to honor the prince of Brooklyn Center.”
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the Wright family, led a call and response with mourners, saying repeatedly,” Daunte Wright’s life mattered.”
Addressing Wright’s parents, Crump said, “Katie and Aubrey, our heart is broken with yours as we come to lay him to rest. Most importantly, we celebrate his life and we define his legacy.”
“As we make the pleas for justice in the court of public opinion, we pray Attorney General Keith Ellison will allow us to get full justice in the court of law,” Crump said.
Mourners including Ellison, Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott began to stream into the church around noon. Large photos of the smiling young man flanked his white coffin, which was covered in dozens of red roses. A band played Gospel music.
Outside, outreach workers and armed Minnesota Freedom Fighters surrounded Wright’s parents, who held hands as they entered the temple alongside Sharpton. A swarm of photographers from international media organizations jostled and craned their necks for a photo of the grieving family.
Dressed up in all white and in the arms of a relative, 1-year-old Daunte
Jr., Wright’s son, looked wide-eyed at the more than 100 people crowded outside the north Minneapolis building.
Traffic moved slowly down W. Broadway Avenue, where a lane was blocked off for the funeral procession. A man and woman wearing sweatshirts with Wright’s face on them paused for a minute, looked at the hearse, then continued walking down the block.
Walz issued a proclamation Thursday morning calling for a statewide moment of silence during the first two minutes of Wright’s funeral, from noon to 12:02 p.m.
“Daunte Wright was beloved by his family, neighbors and community, and had his entire young life ahead of him. We mourn the loss of Daunte Wright, and as a state we offer our deepest condolences to the Wright family,” the proclamation read.
“While nothing can bring Daunte Wright back to his loved ones, we must continue to work to enact real, meaningful change at the local, state, and national levels to fight systemic racism so that every person in Minnesota — Black, Indigenous, Brown, or White — can be safe and thrive.”
Wright’s funeral comes two days after people poured into Minneapolis streets to rejoice for the state’s first-ever murder conviction of a white police officer for the killing a Black man.