Problems erupted again during a second night of protests outside the police headquarters in downtown Brooklyn, Minneapolis, a day after one of the officers in the city shot 20-year-old Blackman Daunte Wright during a stopover, CBS Minnesota reported.
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said at a news conference Monday that the officer who shot Wright intended to use her Taser but instead grabbed her gun. Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, has been placed on administrative leave.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating Wright’s death.
Sunday’s shooting took place amid the Derek Chauvin trial over the murder of George Floyd.
A hike at 7pm in Hennepin County did not deter hundreds of protesters on Monday as they rumbled outside headquarters. The building is fenced. Officers from the Brooklyn Center outside were supported by state troops and members of the Minnesota National Guard.
After ignoring several distribution orders, flashes and tear gas were deployed. Protesters worked against fireworks launched against law enforcement.
Tear gas fired every few minutes pushed many people in the crowd away from the front of the building around 9:30 p.m.
Shortly thereafter, law enforcement officers began advancing on the protesters and firing rubber bullets, CBS Minnesota Dave Schuman reported from the scene. Around the same time, the Brooklyn City Council voted to ban its officers from using rubber bullets and chemical irritants for crowd control.
The crowd thinned out a lot by 10:30 pm as law enforcement members widened their perimeter. Schuman tweeted that police had established a line at a gas station a few blocks away.
Authorities said in an early morning briefing that about 40 people had been arrested, that some officers had sustained minor injuries and that there had been a number of cases of looting.
Katie Wright / CBS Minnesota