MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on the funeral of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by a suburban Minneapolis police officer during a traffic stop April 11 (all times local):
3:02 p.m.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is calling for legislative change to ensure “true justice” following the police killings of Daunte Wright, George Floyd and more.
Speaking at Wright’s funeral Thursday, Klobuchar, of Minnesota, 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.”
Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot April 11 by a white police officer during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb.
Klobuchar called for passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which seeks to ban chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for law enforcement at the federal level.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also read proclamations decrying Wright’s death.
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2:20 p.m.
The Rev. Al Sharpton’s eulogy for a 20-year-old Black man slain by a police officer in Minnesota included a stinging rebuke of the possibility that Daunte Wright was pulled over for having air fresheners dangling from his mirror.
Wright’s mother has said her son called her after being stopped in suburban Brooklyn Center. She says he told her he had been pulled over because of the air fresheners. Police say he was stopped for expired registration.
Sharpton said Thursday that activists have come to Minneapolis “as the air fresheners of Minnesota.”
He says they are working “to get the stench of police brutality out of the atmosphere.”
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2:09 p.m.
Delivering the eulogy at Daunte’s Wright’s funeral Thursday, the Rev. Al Sharpton called the 20-year-old father a prince.
Wright, a Black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer during an April 11 traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb.
Sharpton says mourners came “from all over the country because you hurt one of our princes.”
Wright’s mother says he called her just before he was shot, telling her he had been pulled over for having an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror, which is a traffic violation in Minnesota.
Sharpton says the police “thought he was just some kid with air freshener. He was a prince!”
Police have said Wright was pulled over for having expired license plate tags.
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1:50 p.m.
Daunte Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, says his fatal shooting changed both their lives.
Speaking at her 20-year-old son’s funeral in Minneapolis Thursday, she said: “The roles should be completely reversed. My son should be burying me.”
Wright buried her face in her hands and Daunte’s father, Arbuey, briefly took the microphone.
When he passed it back, Katie Wright recalled how her son became father to a boy born prematurely, describing his happiness and pride.
She says: “Junior was the joy of his life. He lived for him every single day.”
Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center on April 11.
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1:38 p.m.
The attorney for the family of Daunte Wright says the suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed the young father during a traffic stop last week should be facing more serious charges.
Officer Kim Potter is charged with manslaughter in Wright’s April 11 death. Potter’s chief said he believed the officer, who has since resigned, meant to pull her Taser.
Speaking at Wright’s funeral, attorney Ben Crump said Potter should not have pulled any weapon.
In a rousing speech to the mourners inside Shiloh Temple International Ministries, Crump acknowledged the relatives of other young Black men and women killed by police.
He said: “We have to fight for our children until Hell freezes over. And then we have to be prepared to fight on the ice.”
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1:10 p.m.
Daunte Wright’s funeral has opened with trumpeter Keyon Harrold played a rendition of “Amazing Grace” and “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” often referred to as the Black national anthem.
Artist Ange Hillz also painted Wright’s portrait with white paint on black canvas at the service Thursday. Hillz executed similar portraits of George Floyd at his funeral and of Breonna Taylor.
Wright died last week after being shot during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.
Ben Crump, attorney for the Floyd and Wright families, led the assembled mourners in chanting, “Daunte Wright’s life mattered!” He also praised Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the team that prosecuted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in Floyd’s death.
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12:23 p.m.
The funeral has begun for Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old father of one killed last week by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb.
The funeral Thursday comes just two days after former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd, a Black man whose killing set off waves of protests for racial justice across the United States and around the world.
The fatal shooting of Wright on April 11 sparked days of protests in Brooklyn Center.
The police officer who shot Wright, 26-year-veteran Kim Potter, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter. The city’s police chief said it appeared from the officer’s body camera video that she had intended to fire a Taser at Wright, but mistakenly fired her pistol.
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12:02 p.m.
The Rev. Al Sharpton and the family of Daunte Wright have arrived at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis for Wright’s funeral.
The young man Black man was killed last week by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.
Sharpton, a well-known civil rights leader, also spoke last year at the funeral for George Floyd, a Black man killed by a police officer during his arrest in Minneapolis.
Floyd’s death set off protests and unrest across the United States, and around the world.
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11:38 a.m.
More than a dozen men from a local security group, many with rifles, sidearms and wearing body armor, are watching over the funeral for Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old Black man killed last week in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.
The men’s patches identify them as members of the Minneapolis Freedom Fighters, a group of Black men formed last year to provide security in Minneapolis’ largely Black north side neighborhoods during unrest following the death of George Floyd last year.
Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted two days ago of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
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11:08 a.m.
The family of Daunte Wright is preparing for his funeral Thursday. It comes just days after guilty verdicts were handed down for the former Minneapolis police officer whose killing of George Floyd set off nationwide protests and a reckoning over racism. Wright died April 11 after a white Brooklyn Center police officer shot the 20-year-old Black man during a traffic stop. Her chief said it appeared the officer mistakenly used her gun instead of her Taser. The officer resigned soon after and is charged with second-degree manslaughter. Wright’s killing came amid increasing tension during the weekslong trial of Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer who killed Floyd.
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