On April 11th, a 20 year old black man, by the name of Duante Wright, was shot and killed by the Brooklyn Center Police Department, after a traffic stop. According to The New Your Times, Chief Tim Gannon of the Police Department says officers pulled Mr. Wright over on Sunday afternoon for a traffic violation related to expired registration tags. Then the officers discovered that he had a warrant for his arrest. He says that as the police tried to detain Wright, he stepped back into his car, prompting a brief struggle with the officers.
In a video that’s gone viral of the body camera, it shows an officer that can be seen pointing a handgun at him and shouting “Taser.” Once the car pulls away, the officer yells and says, “I just shot him” to two other officers, according to the video.
The car traveled several blocks and struck another vehicle. The police and medical workers pronounced Mr. Wright dead at the scene.
“It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Chief Gannon said.
The Hennepin County medical examiner concluded Monday that Mr. Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest.
Since then, thousands of protesters fled the streets, demanding justice. Officer Kim Potter was arrested but later released on a 100,000 bond. The Washington County Attorney’s Office has charged Potter with second-degree manslaughter. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
These types of issues continue to happen in our communities over and over. The question is how do we make it stop? Is it possible? What are your thoughts?
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