MINNEAPOLIS – Family and friends of Daunte Wright exalted the 20-year-old Black father fatally shot during a traffic stop by a veteran Minnesota police officer at a funeral service in Minneapolis on Thursday.
“He was a brother, a jokester,” Wright’s mother, Katie, said as she fought back tears. “He was loved by so many. He is going to be so missed.”
Hundreds of mourners were inside Shiloh International Ministries for the service, 11 days after Wright’s death in nearby Brooklyn Center and two days after the police officer who killed George Floyd last May was convicted of murder in a Minneapolis courtroom.
Katie Wright reflected on Wright’s son, Daunte Jr., and the “joy” the child brought him: “He was so happy and so proud, and he said he couldn’t wait to make his son proud.”
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who delivered the eulogy, said that as he arrived at the service, a man told him he had not seen a similar funeral procession since the death of the pop icon Prince, a Minneapolis native.
“I said, ‘Well, we came to bury the prince of Brooklyn Center,’” Sharpton said to applause from the audience.
Wright was killed April 11 in Brooklyn Center, about 10 miles north of Minneapolis, after police pulled him over for driving a car with an expired license plate. During a struggle,, police officer Kim Potter warned that she would tase him but shot Wright with her gun instead. Police said she mistook the weapons.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told mourners at the Shiloh Temple that the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin in Floyd’s death did not equate to justice for all those wrongfully killed by law enforcement.
“True justice is not done as long as having expired tags means losing your life during a traffic stop,” Klobuchar said. “True justice is not done as long as Black Americans are killed by law enforcement at more than twice the rate of white Americans.”
Besides Klobuchar, Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Tina Smith, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Floyd’s family members were in attendance.
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump revved up the packed, energetic crowd at the service, exhorting them to repeat several times, “Daunte Wright’s life mattered.”
The congregation responded enthusiastically to an artist painting a portrait of Wright on a black canvas with white paint as jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold played a solo of “Amazing Grace.”
Wright’s death brought on anger, sadness and frustration in a community already on edge amid Chauvin’s trial.
Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts of murdering Floyd. Potter, a Brooklyn Center officer for 26 years, resigned in the days after Wright’s death and is charged with second-degree manslaughter. The city’s police chief, who also resigned, said Potter thought she was using her Taser when she pulled out her firearm.
Ellison, whose office led the prosecution of Chauvin, and Floyd’s family, who held up fists, received rounds of applause as Crump praised them during the service. Crump and Klobuchar called for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to pass in Congress.
Outside the church, mourners gathered, including several people whose loved ones were killed by police.
Rashad Henry and Brian Jackson know Wright’s father and said more needs to be done to hold officers accountable. “We’re losing too many brothers at the hands of the police,” said Henry, who donned a hat that said, “I can’t breathe,” the words Floyd cried as Chauvin pinned him down. “These cops must be held accountable.”
Jackson said he reached out to the family after seeing Wright’s father, Aubrey, at a news conference. They grew up together.
“I feel sad, not so much angry,” Jackson said. “He just had a kid; now that kid has got to grow up without a father. … I know he would’ve been a good dad.”
Wright was remembered as a young father to Daunte Jr. who enjoyed spending time with family on the Fourth of July. “He was loved. He was ours,” aunt Naisha Wright said last week.
‘He did not deserve this’:Family remembers Daunte Wright as an adoring dad who enjoyed playing sports and celebrating the Fourth of July
During protests over Wright’s death, hundreds who convened nightly at the Brooklyn Center police station were met with rubber bullets, tear gas and members of the Minnesota National Guard. The city was under curfew for several nights as police and protesters clashed and dozens were arrested each evening.
Wright’s mother said he called her when he was pulled over April 11. Though police said he was stopped for an expired registration, Wright had an outstanding warrant for possession of a gun without a permit and fleeing an officer, so officers tried to arrest him.
Body camera footage released shortly after his death showed a scuffle in which Wright reentered the driver’s seat of the vehicle. Potter shouted “Taser!” repeatedly but drew her Glock instead. She shot Wright, who drove away, and Potter said, “Holy (expletive), I just shot him.”
Tim Gannon, the Brooklyn Center police chief who resigned, characterized the incident as an “accidental discharge.”
Wright’s family said they can’t accept that account of their son’s death and demanded full accountability for Potter.
How could a gun be mistaken for a Taser? There have been at least 16 incidents of ‘weapon confusion’ since 2001.
Katie Wright said last week “justice” in this case would be impossible because it would mean bringing her son home. “Justice isn’t even a word to me,” she said.
Crump said Wright should not have been pulled over in the first place for a minor infraction, such as an expired car registration, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The case has drawn comparisons to that of Mohamed Noor and Justine Ruszczyk Damond. Noor, a Black Minneapolis police officer, fatally shot Damond, a white woman, in 2017 after he said he heard a bang on the side of his squad car and thought Damond was a threat. Noor was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 12½ years in prison.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office handed Potter’s case over to Washington County Attorney Pete Orput’s office in accordance with an agreement among prosecutors in the Minneapolis area.
“Certain occupations carry an immense responsibility and none more so than a sworn police officer,” Imran Ali, Washington County assistant criminal division chief, said in a statement last week. “We … intend to prove that Officer Potter abrogated her responsibility to protect the public when she used her firearm rather than her taser. Her action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable.”
Potter could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of second-degree manslaughter.
Contributing: Trevor Hughes in Minneapolis
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/04/22/daunte-wright-funeral-al-sharpton-brooklyn-center-minneapolis/7317436002/
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