PROTESTS ERUPT IN MINNESOTA AFTER POLICE SHOOT, KILL BLACK MAN DURING TRAFFIC STOP

Mon 12 April 2021:

The fatal shooting of an African American man when police attempted to detain him in the city of Brooklyn Center in the US state of Minnesota has sparked clashes between hundreds of protesters and police officers, media reported.

The incident has flared up tensions between locals and police officers as it came in the midst of the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, charged with the murder of George Floyd in the state’s major city of Minneapolis last May. Chauvin is the officer who put his knee on Floyd’s neck during the arrest of the African American man.

The mother of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man, told a crowd earlier Sunday evening that he called her to say he had been pulled over by police, local media reported.

Katie Wright said she heard officers tell her son to put his phone down, and then one of the officers ended the call. Soon after, her son’s girlfriend told her he had been shot.

Katie Wright, mother of Daunte Wright, 20, describes the phone call with her son as he was pulled over. @kare11 pic.twitter.com/3lz5jncTuc

— Chris Hrapsky (@ChrisHrapsky) April 12, 2021

Daunte Wright.

tw// police brutality
please help spread the word about #DaunteWright who was murdered by police for having air refreshers in his car https://t.co/P8uggo9Nfx

— sarah𖧵⁷ (@outrosza) April 12, 2021

In the Brooklyn Center neighborhood of Minneapolis, police have killed 20 year old #DaunteWright. Angry neighbors have descended in the scene, smashing a police cruiser as armored officers stand nearby. pic.twitter.com/S05Kl9aVuV

— Vitalist International (@VitalistInt) April 12, 2021

According to the Brooklyn Center police, the incident took place at about 2 p.m. local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday when officers stopped a vehicle over an alleged traffic violation.

“Officers determined that the driver of the vehicle had an outstanding warrant. At one point as officers were attempting to take the driver into custody, the driver re-entered the vehicle. One officer discharged their firearm, striking the driver.

The vehicle traveled several blocks before striking another vehicle,” the police department said in a press release late on Sunday.

The driver died at the scene despite medical assistance. The victim was identified as 20-year-old Daunte Wright. The name of a police officer who shot Wright has not been established yet.

Within hours following the incident, several hundreds of people gathered at the scene in the northern Minneapolis suburb, the Star Tribune newspaper reported, adding that the protesters later walked to the Brooklyn Center police headquarters, where they clashed with police officers.

To disperse the crown, the police deployed tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets as protesters were chanting Wright’s name and climbed atop the police headquarters sign, the newspaper said.

Floyd’s death less than a year ago triggered a wave of civil rights protests through the United States and across the rest of the world.