A tense face-to-face, with more than sixty arrests, pitted protesters against police officers near Minneapolis on Tuesday night after the death of a young black man killed by police, for the third night in a row despite the curfew.
• Read also: Devastated Floyd and Wright families call for police reform in the United States
• Read also: Minneapolis under high tension after death of young black man killed by police
• Read also: Death of George Floyd: Chauvin’s lawyer on the offensive
Tensions have been mounting since the death on Sunday of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of this northern metropolis where the trial of a white police officer accused of the May murder of George Floyd, also underway, is currently taking place. Afro-American.
Riot police dispersed the approximately 800 to 1,000 demonstrators, gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center police station despite the curfew imposed from 10 p.m. local time.
Police made around 60 arrests and used stun grenades, with protesters firing back with water bottles or bricks, authorities said.
Earlier Tuesday, the families of Daunte Wright and George Floyd together called for an end to police violence and racism in the United States.
” By your side ”
“The world is traumatized to see a new African American put to death,” said Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd who died below the knee of white policeman Derek Chauvin. “From the Floyd family, to the Wright family: know that we stand by your side.”
The press conference took place not far from the court where Derek Chauvin’s trial is taking place. Philonise Floyd testified on Monday.
Daunte Wright was shot dead during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, near Minneapolis. Police called his death “accidental”.
Policewoman Kim Potter, 48, including 26 in law enforcement, confused her service weapon with her Taser, an electric pulse pistol that is not supposed to be lethal, according to the Brooklyn Police Chief Center Tim Gannon. The agent and Mr. Gannon resigned on Tuesday.
The relatives of Daunte Wright demand the arrest of the policewoman. “Throw her in jail as you would for us,” said her aunt Naisha Wright on Tuesday during the press conference.
“A mistake is unacceptable! George Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams added. “Enough: police reforms are needed.”
“We want the world to know that these are not isolated cases, that in fact George Floyd and Daunte Wright are the face of hundreds of murders covered up for years here in the state of Minnesota,” he said. says Toshira Garraway, an activist against police violence and racism.
“I am completely lost because my son had his father stolen,” said Chyna Whitaker, who will have to raise a one-year-old boy on her own.
Opiates
Just before the families spoke out, Derek Chauvin’s trial entered a new phase with an offensive from the defense. For the lawyer of the ex-police officer, Me Eric Nelson, George Floyd died of an overdose combined with health problems and not of asphyxiation.
On May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin knelt for nearly ten minutes on George Floyd’s neck, on the ground and handcuffed after his arrest on suspicion of having passed a fake $ 20 bill.
Forensic pathologist Andrew Baker stressed Friday that if the autopsy revealed the presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine, they are not “the direct causes” of death which remain the lack of oxygen due to the compression of the neck.
Filmed live by a passerby, George Floyd’s ordeal sparked a historic wave of anger in the United States and around the world against racism and police brutality against minorities.
The policewoman’s video recording of Daunte Wright’s death shows officers pulling him out of his vehicle and handcuffing him. He resists, sits down in his car. The policewoman can be heard shouting “Taser, Taser” to signal that she is going to shoot. A gunshot echoed.
“Holy shit, I shot him,” the policewoman said as the fatally injured young man started his car, which crashed a few streets away.
US President Joe Biden deplored this “tragic” death on Monday and called on protesters to remain “peaceful” while awaiting the results of the investigation.