Protests erupt after Black man killed by police in Minnesota

Protests erupted in Minnesota overnight after a 20-year-old Black man was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop. 

The Brooklyn Center officer shot the man after learning that he had an outstanding warrant and while attempting to arrest him on Sunday afternoon, authorities said. 

Relatives of Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old victim, said Wright drove for a short distance after he was shot, crashed his car and died at the scene, the Star Tribune reported. Officials believe cameras worn by the officers and mounted on the dashboards of police vehicles at the scene captured the incident, the newspaper reported.

Photos and video taken late Sunday night showed hundreds of protesters gathered in Brooklyn Center, just north of Minneapolis, where the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of murdering George Floyd, continues this week.

The death of Floyd, who was Black, set off nationwide demonstrations over racial justice and reforming the police last summer.

Demonstrators in Brooklyn Center chanted Wright’s name late Sunday and climbed on top of a police headquarters sign. Officers in riot gear used tear gas and flash bangs to break up the crowd, the newspaper reported. 

Police have pushed large swath of crowd back across the street, into residential area with tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets. This came moments after a few people threw things at police line and organizers yelled at them to stop. pic.twitter.com/w0bK4Or9iN

— Liz Sawyer (@ByLizSawyer) April 12, 2021

Dozens of Brooklyn Center residents who live in the apartments across from the police precinct are peering out their windows filming the tense encounter will police. Flash bangs keep exploding above and around their building. People yelling: “Children live there!!” pic.twitter.com/9PMh87qeAd

— Liz Sawyer (@ByLizSawyer) April 12, 2021

I’m in Minnesota to write about the Derek Chauvin trial but 20 miles away a 20 year old black man named Dante Wright was killed by Brooklyn Center police during a traffic stop. Crowds are gathered at the police precinct. pic.twitter.com/f8B8UNmxKa

— jelani cobb (@jelani9) April 12, 2021

Current scene in Brooklyn Center yards away from where family members say a 20yrold Black man was killed by an officer during a traffic stop this afternoon. @MPRnews pic.twitter.com/erF3eONgUr

— Nina Moini (@ninamoini) April 12, 2021

Tense scene at the intersection of 63rd and Lee Ave N in Brooklyn Center. A crowd is shouting at the press and police saying that an officer didn’t have to kill a man. BCA is here investigating. pic.twitter.com/laVrMLsF8v

— Kim Hyatt (@kimvhyatt) April 11, 2021

A curfew was put in place by Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott until 6 a.m. on Monday. 

“Our entire community is filled with grief following today’s officer-involved shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20 year old young man. Our hearts are with his family, and with all those in our community impacted by this tragedy,” Elliott said. “While we await additional information … we continue to ask that members of our community gathering do so peacefully, amid our calls for transparency and accountability.”

The National Guard has been deployed to the area, local officials said, as law enforcement attempted to contain instances of looting and rioting that took place during Sunday night’s protests.

“I am closely monitoring the situation in Brooklyn Center,” said Gov. Tim Walz (D). “Gwen and I are praying for Daunte Wright’s family as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement.”

Updated at 1:30 p.m.