Police killing of 20-year-old sparks outrage; trauma
Northside impacted by Sunday’s killing
By David Pierini, staff writer
A community is once again outraged and three North Minneapolis mobile phone shops were damaged overnight Sunday as unrest sparked by the police killing of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center sent shockwaves through the Twin Cities.
Twenty-year-old Daunte Wright was killed April 11 during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center. Photo courtesy of Katie Wright
Wright, 20, was shot following a traffic stop Sunday afternoon. According to a Brooklyn Center police statement, an officer fired at Wright as he tried to re-enter his car during an attempt to take him into custody for an outstanding warrant.
Wright’s death adds a pall to the grief residents are reliving as the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd, enters a third week of testiomny.
News of Wright’s shooting death reached community leaders in North Minneapolis. Civil rights leader Nekima Levy Armstrong was among a group of Northside activists who joined protesters in Brooklyn Center and gave periodic updates on Facebook Live to the growing unrest.
A cellular phone store along West Broadway Avenue was vandalized following the police killing of Daunte Wright, 20, in Brooklyn Center. Photo from Don Samuels’ Facebook page
Phillipe Cunningham and Jeremiah Ellison, the two Minneapolis councilmen representing North Minneapolis wards, both issued strong statements condemning the shooting and police clashes with protesters.
“My soul is tired,” Cunngingham wrote on Twitter Sunday. “This system isn’t reformable – if we are all to be safe, it has to be fundamentally transformed.”
Adair Mosley, president and CEO of Pillsbury United Communities, which is based in North Minneapolis, echoed Cunningham’s pain in an email to agency staff this morning.
The Boost Mobile on West Broadway Avenue near Penn Avenue was struck by vandals Sunday evening (April 11) following the police killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center. Photo from Don Samuels’ Facebook page
“Words don’t express the continued trauma and pain Black people bear when Black lives are shortened by those we seek to protect us. It’s inconceivable,” Mosley wrote. “The cries of injustice must be heard by our policy makers and business leaders. These cries must haunt them. Our demand for justice is non-negotiable.”
Pillsbury United Communities is the parent organization of North News.
Minnesota Public Safety Commission John Harrington said state and local law enforcement stepped up security efforts throughout the area. Minnesota activated and mobilized the National Guard through the Twin Cities and Harrington said the Guard’s presence will be “robust” for the next few days.
Ellison lashed out on Twitter over reports of police clashing with protesters.
“When police kill someone, protesters are often brutally punished for their outrage,” he wrote. “Why is this the script? Over and over and over again – I’m sick of it. It always produces the same result.”
Northside residents helped business owners stand guard outside their establishments.
Don Samuels, a former city councilman who represented North Minneapolis, posted photos on Facebook of three West Broadway Avenue mobile phone shops damaged overnight Sunday. At this time North News knows of any other Northside incidents related to the police killing of Wright.