Minneapolis riots and looting erupt after cop kills black man Daunte Wright 10 miles from where George Floyd was killed
WIDESPREAD rioting and looting has broken out in Minneapolis after police shot dead a black man 10 miles from where George Floyd was killed.
Daunte Wright, 20, was killed by a Brooklyn Center police officer shortly before 2pm yesterday during a routine traffic stop.
The killing of Floyd last August sparked riots across the United States and bolstered the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said it was "investigating an officer-involved shooting incident" in Brooklyn Center but declined to identify the victim.
According to a statement from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, officers pulled over a driver for a traffic violation.
When they discovered he had an outstanding warrant, they tried to take him into custody.
He got back into his car, and one of the officers shot him dead.
A female passenger in the car suffered ";non-life-threatening injuries" and was transported to a local hospital, said the statement, which did not identify the woman.
Photos from the protest showed men stomping on the windshield of a police cruiser.
Police fired rubber bullets to try to disperse the protesters, according to the Star Tribune.
After about an hour, the police presence eased, and the crowd lit candles and wrote messages such as "Justice for Daunte Wright" in chalk on the street.
But clashes broke out again soon after as another group of several hundred protesters gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Headquarters and were met with teargas and flashbangs.
Speaking at a press conference, John Harrington, the state's commissioner of public safety, reported "rocks and other objects thrown at the police department".
He added that officers were sent to the scene and the crowd had mostly dispersed.
About 20 businesses were looted at a local mall, he said.
Meanwhile, police said there was violence elsewhere with a police officer hit by a vehicle near 26xx Central Avenue North East. They are reportedly lightly injured.
Cops also reported someone ramming the barrier at the police vehicle impound lot in a bid for others to take their cars back.
POLICE KILLINGS IN PAST 18 MONTHS
March 13, 2020: Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician was shot eight times when officers raided her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
The police were executing a search warrant as part of a drugs raid, but no drugs were found.
March 23, 2020: Daniel Prude
Daniel Prude died in March, days after police officers in Rochester, New York placed a hood over his head and pressed his face into the ground for two minutes.
But the details of Prude's encounter were not known until police body camera footage was released almost six months later, triggering protests and calls for police reform.
May 25, 2020: George Floyd
George Floyd died after being arrested in Minneapolis, and held down by police officers, one of whom had his knee on Floyd's neck.
He pleaded that he couldn't breathe.
June 12 2020: Rayshard Brooks
Brooks, 27, was fatally shot by a police officer in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia as the nation was still reeling from the unrest triggered by Floyd's killing.
Mr Harrington said more National Guard troops would be moved into the area on Monday, to deal with potential unrest.
The shooting comes during the ongoing trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing charges of manslaughter and murder over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last May.
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Floyd's killing sparked months of protests in the United States against racism and police brutality and attracted international outrage.
Mayor Elliott called the shooting "tragic", while Minnesota governor Tim Walz said the state "mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement."