Minnesota death fires up unrest over police

CROWDS of mourners and protesters gathered yesterday in a Minnesota town where the family of a 20-year-old man say he was shot by police before getting back into his car and driving away, then crashing several streets away.

The family of Daunte Wright said he was later pronounced dead. The death sparked protests in Brooklyn Center into the early hours of yesterday morning as Minneapolis, the state’s biggest city, was already on edge midway through the trial of the first of four police officers charged over George Floyd’s death.

Brooklyn Center is a town of about 30,000 residents located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, to the north-west of Minneapolis.

Minnesota governor Tim Walz wrote on Twitter that he was praying for Mr Wright’s family “as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement”.

Police did not immediately identify Mr Wright or disclose his race, but some protesters who gathered near the scene waved flags and signs reading Black Lives Matter. Others walked peacefully with their hands held up. On one street, written in multi-coloured chalk, were the words: “Justice for Daunte Wright.”

Brooklyn Center police said in a statement that officers had stopped an individual shortly before 2pm on Sunday. After determining the driver had an outstanding warrant, police tried to arrest the driver.

The driver re-entered the vehicle and drove away. An officer fired at the vehicle, striking the driver. Police added that the vehicle travelled several streets before striking another vehicle. A female passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the crash.

Katie Wright, Mr Wright’s mother, huddled with loved ones near the scene and pleaded for her son’s body to be removed from the street, the state’s Star Tribune newspaper reported. She said her son had called her when he was being pulled over, and she heard scuffling before the call ended. When she called back, she said her son’s girlfriend told her Mr Wright had been shot.

Carolyn Hanson lives near the crash scene and told the newspaper that she saw officers pull the man out of the car and perform CPR. Ms Hanson said a passenger who got out was covered in blood.

Demonstrators gathered shortly after the shooting and crash, with some jumping on top of police cars and confronting officers. Marchers also descended upon the Brooklyn Center police department building, where rocks and other objects were thrown at officers, Minnesota Department of Public Safety commissioner John Harrington said.

Mr Harrington added that about 20 businesses had been broken into at the town’s Shingle Creek shopping centre. He said law enforcement agencies were co-ordinating to tame the unrest, and the National Guard was activated.

The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged over George Floyd’s death, was scheduled to continue yesterday. Mr Harrington said more National Guard members would be deployed around Minneapolis and in Brooklyn Center.