MINNEAPOLIS — Daunte Wright, the young Black man shot by an officer during a traffic stop in suburban Minneapolis, was not “just some kid with an air freshener,” but a “prince” whose life ended too soon at the hands of police, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Thursday during an emotional funeral.
Hundreds of people wearing COVID-19 masks packed into Shiloh Temple International Ministries to remember Wright, a 20-year-old father of one who was shot by a white police officer on April 11 in the small city of Brooklyn Center. The funeral was held just two days after former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in the death of George Floyd and amid a national reckoning on racism and policing.
“The absence of justice is the absence of peace,” Sharpton said. “You can’t tell us to shut up and suffer. We must speak up when there is an injustice.”
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The civil rights leader’s thundering eulogy included a stinging rebuke of the possibility that Wright was pulled over for having air fresheners dangling from his mirror. Wright’s mother has said her son called her after he was stopped and told her that was the reason. Police said it was for expired registration.
“We come today as the air fresheners for Minnesota,” Sharpton said, vowing changes in federal law. “We’re trying to get the stench of police brutality out of the atmosphere. We’re trying to get the stench of racism out of the atmosphere. We’re trying to get the stench of racial profiling out of the atmosphere.
“We come to Minnesota as air fresheners because your air is too odorous for us to breathe,” he said.” We can’t breathe in your stinking air no more!”
Brooklyn Center’s police chief said it appeared from body camera video that the officer who shot Wright used her pistol when she meant to use her Taser as Wright struggled with police. The 26-year veteran, Kim Potter, is charged with second-degree manslaughter. Both she and the chief resigned after the shooting.
Ben Crump, attorney for both the Floyd and Wright families, has called for more serious charges against Potter and said Wright’s son “is going to get old enough to watch that video of how his father was slain so unnecessarily. A misdemeanour, a misdemeanour.”
“It’s too often that traffic stops end up as deadly sentences, a death sentence,” Crump said, adding he wants Wright’s son to know, “We stood up for Daunte, his father.”
Daunte’s mother, Katie Wright, told mourners, “The roles should be completely reversed. My son should be burying me,” before burying her face in her hands.
Wright recalled her son becoming a father to a boy born prematurely: “He was so happy and so proud, and he said he couldn’t wait to make his son proud. Junior was the joy of his life. He lived for him every single day.”
Funeral attendees were brought to their feet when artist Ange Hillz painted a portrait of Wright — white paint on a black canvas — as trumpeter Keyon Harrold played “Amazing Grace” and “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” the Black national anthem.
And during a silent reading of Wright’s obituary, some could be heard crying softly.
The families of several other Black people killed by police were there, too, including the mothers of Philando Castile, who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb in 2016, and Eric Garner, who was filmed saying “I can’t breathe” in a fatal 2014 encounter with New York City police.
Also attending were relatives of Oscar Grant, killed in 2009 by a California transit officer who mistook his service weapon for a stun gun, similar to the Wright case, and of Emmett Till, the teenager whose 1955 lynching in Mississippi helped spark the civil rights movement, as well as the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, who was shot in her Kentucky apartment by officers serving a warrant in 2020.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also attended.
“True justice is not done as long as having expired tags means losing your life during a traffic stop,” Klobuchar said before a minister gave the closing prayer. “True justice is not done as long as a chokehold, the knee on the neck or a no-knock warrant is considered legitimate policing.”
More than a dozen members from an armed team of local men, the Minnesota Freedom Fighters, provided security.
Wright was killed when a scuffle broke out as police tried to arrest him after realizing he had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court on charges of fleeing police and having a gun without a permit.
It set off protests in Brooklyn Center, a working-class, majority nonwhite city, with hundreds of people gathering every night for a week outside the city’s heavily guarded police station. While the mayor called for law enforcement and protesters to scale back their tactics, the nights often ended with demonstrators lobbing water bottles and rocks at the officers, and law enforcement responding with pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets.
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Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan. Morrison is a member of the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.
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Find AP’s full coverage of the death of Daunte Wright at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-daunte-wright
© 2021 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Sorry Al, I’m still trying to get past Tawana Brawley. That is a pretty good summation of your character and your career in strong arming the public.
You’re not relevant. You never have been and you never will be. Your extortionist tactics work on the weak, but not every organization is weak.
Go climb back under your rock and disappear.
Daunte Wright was a wanted criminal, if he was not stupid he would still be alive. The Criminal started everything in motion.
IF He wasn’t a criminal, he’d be alive…
We all are trying to get away from the Stench that is Sharpton and we all remember the Tawana Brawley gig. In addition to being a criminal act on your part by accusing a NY Police Detective of committing the “crime” that never happened against this hapless young teenager, you horribly abused this girl by putting her through it all. The world knows this was a completely made up story by the disturbed teenager, but you used that kid to further your horrible pathway to infamy.
the stench of racism–
oh yeah–that would be al sharpton
The day he starts pushing up dasies, there will be a MASS celebration.
They would never flower……the roots will rot off
Maybe he needs to get cremated then, so he won’t poison the land, when he gets interred
The INJUSTICE, Al, is when Police Officers’ lives are routinely put at risk by YOUR “community”!
Contrary to some Liberal talking heads, it’s NOT “normal” or acceptable for ANYONE to fight with weapons (knives or guns), or to RESIST ARREST.
WHEN are YOU (and the so-called “leaders” of your “community”) going to tell YOUR community members to COOPERATE with Law Enforcement? The time/place to ARGUE with the cops, is IN COURT (after your arrest, if that’s what happens to you) – NOT at the time the cop is taking you into custody!
It is, well STUPID, STUPID, STUPID to think that YOU have a “right” to NOT be arrested, or stopped if your car registration is expired, or your windows are too dark, or whatever the reason for being pulled over. It’s NOT “Driving while black”, it’s YOU ARE VIOLATING SOME LAW(s)!
I remind you that there were TWO OTHER black men taken into custody (peacefully) along with Rodney King, when HE resisted arrest, and was beaten by L.A. Cops. THEY obeyed the orders of the police, and NOTHING happened to them! If these WERE “racist” cops, why didn’t they beat ALL THREE of these black men? Because they are NOT, in fact, RACISTS!
EVERYTHING that happens to blacks, is NOT a result of Racism!
WHICH makes you wonder. What sort of soul less imbecil, GIVES ARMED security to cretins like this?
I guess it’s not racism when it’s black on black, in the “community”.
ITS not even newsworthy….
The only stench, Mr Not-So-Sharpton, is what gets stirred up every time you feel compelled to interject your presence into a politically charged incident that will bring you media attention by mouthing off your inflammatory remarks. You so eloquently and forcefully speak on behalf of Daunte and George, but what about the hundreds of nameless Black victims who are killed every day—particularly in the killing field of Chicago? Are they just not so important to you or is it that their misfortune doesn’t play into the narrative that you, the Left, and the Media wish to embellish with half-truths and outright lies in perpetrating the false notion that racism is synonymous with America.
YOU need to be told to shut up alright because the truth of the matter is that you are handsomely paid for stoking hatred and unrest under the guise of championing the Black community. You are a fork-tongued snake in the grass who appeals only to radical militant activists. If you are so concerned about the distrust between Blacks and the police, then stop poisoning the minds of the people you address—address the facts with them and seek to find solutions. The real problem, Al, is in your own backyard.
The biggest stench comes from that racist ******* , useless Sharpton. He is a liar, a dollar and publicity opportunist who will be a parasite on other people’s grief. Sharpton , how about the biggest lie of Tawana Brawley. Society is getting sick of everything we oppose, even on the littlest things is racist, stoked by the biggest racists. Here is a simple solution by these so called law abiding citizens. DON’T RUN away or RESIST arrest. You will probably be still alive if you weren’t that stupid.
EVERYTHING out of his mouth, stinks to high hell.
The stench comes from Sharpton’s race baiting mouth…the little hypocrite is disgusting!
he is a pig in racial slop!
he will have an awful lot to answer for when he meets his maker.
I.A.W. U.S. Census & FBI (Table 43a) Black males make up about 6% of the U.S. population but every year commit 53% of all the murders in the U.S… Every year in the U.S. there are ~5,000 African-Americans men, women and children killed and 94% of them were killed by fellow African-Americans.
Where is the outrage from “Black Lives Matter” and prominent members of the African-American community? Where are the words of condemnation and sorrow from “Black Lives Matter”, Obama, Al Sharpton, or Jesse Jackson over the fact that members of their own race are summarily executing each other?
How many bodies do you have to step over to get to the one that you think is important only because a White police officer was involved?
Sharpton’s idea of an air freshener comes off more like a fart in a phone booth than a social solution to death in Black neighborhoods. If he preached more about the criminal acts and the self-chosen mind altering and violence altering drugs these blacks engage in that place themselves consistently in harm’s way, he might just make some headway to redemption of his misled, unorganized communities where death is bred as readily as life.
Why did he die?
Wright was killed when a scuffle broke out as police tried to arrest him after realizing he had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court on charges of fleeing police and having a gun without a permit.
Oops, he died because he RESISTED and that will get you killed if you are black, white, Asian, or Latino.
Al, you are a dumb-***.
How dare you bring up facts. That’s racist.
Yep Al, Daunte Wright was a “Prince” of a criminal and of course he had a baby with no mother around. Daunte is like you Al, a criminal. How much do you owe the IRS, Al?
Sharpton has a unique stench of his own. Stinks to high heavens. Always has. He thinks white rice is racist.
farrakhan, sharpton, cullors are the scourge that is plaguing this nation. it is the deadly virus we should be inoculated against . they and their supporters and followers are criminals insinuated into our body politic by those seeking to destroy what was once the greatest constitutional republic in the history of the world.
Pity we can’t quarantine, race baiters like him, FOR GOOD… And seal up the building we quarantine them in!
Frequent visitors to Obama’s White House dinners too!
Why are we still even listening to this clown? We haven’t forgotten about Tawana, Al. If you were white you would’ve been run out of town long ago. If you really cared, you would be teaching people to comply, and to stop playing with guns.
Oh yeh,the smell of racism and the smell of more money from hustling it,makes Al a happy boy.
Another thought…..how much money does THIS family think they will make off of a justifiable shooting?? Minnesota’s leaders are a** kissing JOKES.
They probably think THEIR little darling, is worth JUST AS much as what the family of Saint Flloyd “All hail his name” earned.
Someone is pulled over then chooses to resist arrest and is shot in order to end the rebellion against law and order.
The problem is not the police, who are just doing their job, but those who rebel and thus volunteer to be treated more aggressively by police.
Cooperate and live.
Rebel and die.
Yes, it really is that simple…yet some refuse to listen, much less follow instructions.
Knew it was just a matter of time before the brain dead big mouth race hustler got to throw in his 2 cents worth. Now he’ll move on to the recent knife fight where to female thug was killed for trying to stab another female to death.
The race hustlers are loving this.
OF course they are. Gotta get their bank ballances back up.
Al Sharptongue is at it again. Spewing racism over things that are not racist. It is too bad he can not be silenced. He is a racist agitator, and needs to be ignored, especially by the black community.
I see the outrage in the comments and there is not clearly a right or wrong answer here. One thing I will say is that even though he had a warrant for an unlicensed pistol and tried to flee, he was unarmed and could have been arrested without being killed. That is the main point. The same week he was killed, a white man in Hutchinson, MN ran from the police while dragging an officer by his car and hitting the officer with a hammer. This man was arrested without being killed. I believe that is the main point. I mean to bring up no criticism besides pointing out the double standard. Black or White, both were criminals but time and time again Police seem to use lethal force much more often with Blacks.
The white cop made a mistake, a bad mistake and she will pay dearly for it. Have you ever made a mistake? Apparently not. Granted, most mistakes that ordinary people make are not as consequential as the ones made by this cop and this criminal.
How could this death have been prevented?
Obviously, the white cop could have pulled the taser instead of the pistol.
The criminal, and he was a dangerous criminal, look it up, could have followed orders and not jumped back into the car and attempted to run. If he had he would have been taken to jail and probably put back on the street in a couple of hours regardless of the warrant because that’s what they do in Minnesota.
The cops could have let him go and since he was black that’s exactly what they should have done. We have two systems of justice dependent on skin color. Sure, he might have assaulted and attempted to rob another woman but oh well. Minnesota doesn’t seem to mind that much.
Now this is really radical but Wright could have chosen not to be a criminal in the first place. Yes, I know. That’s way too much to expect.
Yes, normal people are outraged with what’s happening to cops, outraged with crime, looting and rioting. You might try asking yourself why you aren’t outraged, as well.
BIG difference, is THE FEMALE Officer was thinking she had her TASER IN HAND, so shoting him was an unfortunate accident..
Another felonious thug eulogising a fellow felonious thug as a “prince”! This at a funeral attended by a thuggish governor, senator and mayor. How come the average law abiding, tax paying citizen doesn’t receive such a send off? Oh yeah, there’s no money or publicity in it for our self righteous “leaders”!
The stench in the room is emanating from the race baiting, blood sucking vampire known as Al Sharpton!
AL has been profiting off the backs of blacks and stupid white liberals by lying about racism causing all their problems, for years (just like BLM)! Al lines his own pockets to live high on the hog by using black victimhood!
Hey Al, where is the $5 million you owe the IRS?
Knowing his butt budy biden, he’s probably already had that debt forgiven.
If the police were going around shooting people based purely on their race you have been shot long ago Al, you have to be one of the most hated black men in the US.
And calling you ‘REV’ is like calling Jeffrey Dahmer a chef !
What about the rotten stench of years of Tax Evasion??
The only one with a stench is sharpton. What a loser! Innocent people don’t jerk away from the police, jump into a car and attempt to escape. Guess he made the choice to die by his own stupidity.
Dante Wright is dead for three reasons.
First, he was a wanted fugitive who broke his parole.
Second, the officer who was arresting him was untrained, most likely a post Floyd Affirmative Action Hire, and poorly supervised. He was being “trained” while the Sargent took his coffee break across the street and his FTO stood back and let him fail miserably at his (probably first) attempt at arresting a felon.
A) Never cuff a suspect while he is standing in the door of his own vehicle.
B) Never try to cuff someone who is not off balance and preferably leaned over the trunk of your patrol car.
C) If you are going to use handcuffs, learn how to use them before you try to cuff a suspect.
D) His FTO (Training Officer) was just as poorly trained as her Rookie because she “Tased” a suspect with her .40 Glock!!!
Third, and last, Dante quickly figured out that he was going to jail, and that he was being used as a “Training Tool” by the PD, so he made the fateful decision to make it fun. He had no way of knowing he was about to get smoked by Deputy Fife’s Wife, as he was unarmed and not being particularly violent when she shot him. did I mention that she fired three shots out of her Glock before realizing it wasn’t her Taser???
Where in the heck does Minneapolis recruit their officers? The Special Olympics?