Army called in to quell unrest in Minneapolis
Shooting of 20-year-old that sparked violent protests was due to Taser mix-up, senior officer says
A police officer who killed a black man during a traffic stop “confused her handgun for a Taser”, Minnesota police yesterday claimed as they sought to quell unrest after the shooting, which occurred just miles from the site of George Floyd’s killing. The army was drafted in and a curfew ordered following violent protests over the shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by police during the incident in the town of Brooklyn Center, north-west of Minneapolis.
AN OFFICER who killed a black man in a traffic stop “confused her handgun for a Taser”, Minnesota police claimed yesterday as they sought to quell unrest after the shooting, which occurred just miles from the site of George Floyd’s killing.
The army was drafted in and a curfew ordered following violent protests over the shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by police during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, north-west of Minneapolis.
“We recognise this couldn’t have happened at a worse time, when all of America, when all of the world is watching our community,” said Mike Elliott, mayor of Brooklyn Center. “Our hearts are aching right now.”
It came as the prosecution in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer who kneeled on Mr Floyd’s neck until he was no longer breathing, was preparing to rest its case. Mr Chauvin’s lawyers yesterday made a plea to the judge to sequester the jury, out of concern that the latest killing could influence them. The request was rejected.
Mr Wright, a father-of-one, was pulled over by police just after 2pm local time on Sunday because an air freshener was blocking the rear-view mirror of his car.
Officers attempted to detain Mr Wright after determining that he had an outstanding arrest warrant for “gross misdemeanour”, but he managed to free himself from handcuffs and got back in his vehicle before he was shot.
Police chief Tim Gannon showed a video of the moment at a heated press conference and claimed it was an “accidental discharge” and that the officer involved mistakenly reached for her gun rather than her Taser.
“I think I shot him,” the female officer, who has been put on administrative leave, can be heard saying with some surprise.
The killing, in broad daylight, sparked unrest in a city where tensions are already running high.
Protesters have spent recent days rallying in Minneapolis as the trial of Mr Chauvin enters its third week in a courthouse ringed with barriers and soldiers from the National Guard.
On Sunday night, the protests spilled over into violence, as police cars were smashed and rocks were thrown at officers, who responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Hundreds of protesters broke into about 20 businesses at a shopping centre, jumped on police cars and hurled rocks and other objects at police in Brooklyn Center. Officers in riot gear fired gas and flashbang grenades.
Mr Elliott called the shooting “tragic”, but pleaded for protesters to be peaceful. “We will get to the bottom of this. We will do all that is in our power to ensure that justice is done for Daunte Wright.”
The Minnesota branch of the American Civil Liberties Union said an independent agency should be brought in to investigate.
The group said it had “deep concerns that police here appear to have used dangling air fresheners as an excuse for making a pretextual stop, something police do all too often to target black people.”
The killing occurred as the prosecution in Mr Chauvin’s trial was preparing to rest its case. On the final day of evidence, a cardiology expert told the court that Mr Floyd had an “exceptionally strong heart”, and believed his death was “absolutely preventable”.
Dr Jonathan Rich of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago said that Mr Floyd died of low oxygen levels from the way he was held down by police.
He said that as one officer noted on video that Mr Floyd was passing out, police probably still could have saved his life if they had repositioned him so that his lungs could expand again.
‘We recognise this couldn’t have happened at a worse time, when all of the world is watching our community’