President Joe Biden is calling for calm after a night of unrest in Minnesota triggered by the police shooting death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man.
Biden urged the community on Monday to “wait and see what the investigation shows,” repeating that there is “absolutely no justification for violence.”
“The question is whether it was an accident or intentional. That remains to be determined,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “Peaceful protest is understandable. And the fact is that we do know that the anger, pain, and trauma that exists in black community in that environment is real, serious, and consequential. But that does not justify violence.”
Biden said he had spoken with the Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and local authorities, and while he had not reached Wright’s family members, he said they are in his prayers. He added that the police body camera footage of the shooting was “fairly graphic.”
“I’m hopeful that there will be an outcome that will be supported by a vast majority of people in the region, and that is my expectation,” he said, adding that federal resources had already been sent to the state.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki echoed Biden’s comments during her Monday briefing, confirming that the administration would abandon its policing commission proposal in favor of the George Floyd Policing Act, which was passed by the Democratic-run House on a mostly party-line vote but has yet to be taken up by the 50-50 Senate.
“It is a reminder of the pain, the anger, the trauma, the exhaustion that many communities across the country have felt. As we see, these incidents continue to occur within just a few miles of where the tragic events happened just a year ago,” Psaki said.
Wright was shot and killed by police on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, after a traffic stop over rearview mirror air fresheners. Wright, who police said had expired registration details and an outstanding warrant for his arrest, was fatally shot when he got back into his car by a female officer, who claimed she thought she had drawn out her Taser and not her handgun. Wright managed to drive down the road before crashing his vehicle with his girlfriend inside.
Unrest over Wright’s death erupted in Brooklyn Center, with angry clashes between protesters and police and property damage, including to the police department’s building. A curfew has been put in place, and the Minnesota National Guard mobilized to help manage the situation, similar to last year’s response to Floyd’s death nearby in Minneapolis.
The Minnesota Twins-Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball game, slated to be played Monday afternoon, was postponed in Minneapolis.
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Floyd died on Memorial Day after former Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the 46-year-old black man’s neck for nearly nine minutes. The incident, captured on video, went viral, prompting worldwide demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice. The 11th day of Chauvin’s trial for second-degree murder, and other lesser offenses, started on Monday.
