Problems erupted again during a second night of protests outside police headquarters in the suburb of Brooklyn Center in Minneapolis, a day after one of the city’s officers shot 20-year-old black man Daunte Wright in a traffic stop, reports CBS Minnesota.
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon told a news conference Monday that the officer who shot Wright intended to use her Taser, but grabbed her gun instead. Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the police force, has been placed on administrative leave.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating Wright’s death.
Sunday’s shooting took place in the middle of the Derek Chauvin trial for the murder of George Floyd.
A 7 p.m. curfew in Hennepin County didn’t deter hundreds of protesters Monday as they sang outside headquarters. The building was gated. Outside, Brooklyn Center agents were supported by state forces and members of the Minnesota National Guard.
After several dissemination orders were ignored, flash bangs and tear gas were deployed. Protesters responded with fireworks to law enforcement.
Tear gas fired every few minutes pushed many in the crowd away from the front of the building around 9:30 pm
Shortly afterward, law enforcement began to advance the protesters and fire rubber bullets, CBS Minnesota Dave Schuman reported from the scene. About the same time, Brooklyn Center City Council voted to ban its agents from using rubber bullets and chemical irritants to control crowds.
The crowd had thinned out by 10:30 pm as law enforcement officers increased their circumference. Schuman tweeted that the police had built a gas station a few blocks away.
Authorities said at an early morning briefing that about 40 people were arrested, some officers sustained minor injuries and there were some cases of looting.
Katie Wright / CBS Minnesota