Minnesota mayor blasts police tactics on protests
Law enforcement uses tear gas, rubber bullets
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. – Elected leaders in the Minneapolis suburb where a police officer fatally shot Daunte Wright want officers to scale back their tactics amid nightly protests, leaving some law enforcement called in to assist asking whether the city still wants their help.
Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered outside the heavily guarded Brooklyn Center police station every night since former Officer Kim Potter, who is white, shot the 20-year-old Black motorist during a traffic stop on Sunday. Protesters have shouted profanities and at times shaken a security fence police erected outside the building and lobbed water bottles at officers.
Police have driven away protesters with tear gas grenades, rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades and long lines of riot police.
Xzavion Martin, 16, lives in an apartment across the street from the police station. He said rubber bullets and other projectiles have landed on his second-story balcony and tear gas has seeped inside.
“We can’t just have our window open anymore without thinking about if there’s going to be some gas coming in,” he said. “There’s kids in this building that are really scared to come back. They are in hotels because of this.”
The tactics have not sat well with Brooklyn Center city officials.
Mayor Mike Elliott, who is
Black,
said “gassing is not a human way of policing” and he didn’t agree with police using pepper spray, tear gas and paintballs against demonstrators. Elliott didn’t respond to multiple messages Friday morning.
Protests have continued since Potter was charged Wednesday with seconddegree manslaughter. The former police chief in the majority nonwhite suburb said Potter fired her pistol when she meant to use her stun gun, but protesters and Wright’s family say there’s no excuse for the shooting.
Potter and the chief resigned Tuesday.
The Brooklyn Center City Council on Monday passed a resolution banning the city’s officers from using tear gas and other chemicals, chokeholds and using police lines to arrest demonstrators. The resolution also allows protesters
to videotape police.
But Brooklyn Center police aren’t dealing with protesters on their own. Other agencies, including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department and the Minnesota National Guard, have provided support at the city’s request in a joint effort dubbed Operation Safety Net. The city’s resolution isn’t binding on those agencies.
Sheriff David Hutchinson asked Elliott in a letter on Wednesday to clarify whether he still wanted the department’s help.
“The city’s actions since Sunday evening have created significant confusion,” Hutchinson wrote. “In order to maintain peace and safety, it is critical that the City of Brooklyn Center communicate with its State, County, and local law enforcement partners regarding its ongoing need for mutual aid.”