Protesters and police clashed for a fifth straight night in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Thursday, following Daunte Wright’s death over the weekend.
Roughly 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside the Brooklyn Center police headquarters, with many staying well past the city’s 10 p.m. curfew. The protests grew tense after Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot announced just after 8 p.m. that a curfew would be going into effect from 10 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday — to the surprise of some, according to reports.
Champlin was the only metro-area curfew that had been previously announced. Former officer Kim Potter, who is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Wright, lives there with her family.
FAST FACTS
- On Wednesday, about 24 people were arrested after authorities cleared protesters around the time of Brooklyn Center’s 10 p.m. curfew
- Demonstrations in Brooklyn Center have often turned violent, leading to clashes with law enforcement
Protesters threw rocks, cans, and fruit at law enforcement and shined lasers at officers’ eyes “in an attempt to blind them,” according to Operation Safety Net (OSN), a public safety coalition formed to respond to incidents related to the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin.
“Protesters have begun to re-engage and throw objects over the fence, injuring officers and guardsmen with flying debris,” OSN tweeted.
The state law enforcement coalition added that fireworks were shot and protesters were trying to cut the fence line surrounding the building in an attempt to gain entry into the perimeter. A fistfight also broke out among some in the crowd outside the fence, OSN wrote.
Unlike previous nights, law enforcement officers stood farther back from the barricades, creating more distance from the protesters. A second line of fencing was also set up between protesters and the police department, FOX 9 of Minneapolis reported.
Others shouted obscenities at police and shook the security fence, just hours after Chicago’s police review board released graphic body camera video related to the fatal officer-involved shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month.
“It is happening in every single city, every single day across the country,” Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told protesters earlier in the evening. Hussein led demonstrators in a chant of “Say his name! Adam Toledo!”
Protesters also tied air fresheners to the fencing, an apparent nod to Wright’s mother, who said her son had one dangling from his mirror when he was stopped.
Police shot and killed Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a routine traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, on Sunday. Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, appeared to have intended to fire a Taser, not a handgun, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said.
Follow below for more updates on the protests in Minnesota. Mobile users click here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report