Daunte Wright shooting: Peaceful protesters march in Philly for man fatally shot by Minnesota officer
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Protesters in Philadelphia marched peacefully through city streets on Tuesday night for Daunte Wright, a Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb.
Chopper 6 was overhead as hundreds of people weaved through Center City Philadelphia.
"I don't think it was right. It was a wrongful shooting," said protester Axel Ahar.
Wright, 20, was driving in Brooklyn Center, about 10 miles northwest of Minneapolis, when he was stopped by police on Sunday afternoon. The officers initially pulled him over for an expired registration tag on his car but determined during the traffic stop that he had an outstanding gross misdemeanor warrant, according to Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon.
As police attempted to take him into custody, Wright reentered the vehicle and one of the officers fired their weapon, striking him. The officer -- identified by authorities as Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department -- intended to deploy her Taser instead of her gun when she "accidentally" shot Daunte Wright, Gannon said.
The car sped off, traveling several blocks before crashing into another vehicle. A female passenger in Wright's car sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the crash and was transported to a nearby hospital. The passengers in the other vehicle were not injured, according to Gannon.
Officers and medical personnel "attempted life-saving measures" on Daunte Wright but he died at the scene, Gannon said.
Nazia Kazi, who marched in Philadelphia Tuesday night, said the protest is about a bigger issue.
"This is a long pattern of police violence that is not ending in the US. This is about Daunte Wright, but this is about a long history of anti-Black racism," said Kazi.
"In our community we feel like we are the ones being oppressed and that our oppressors are not acknowledging the pain that they've caused us," added another protester, Kendall Stephens.
Wright's mother, Katie Wright, told ABC News that her son had called her during the traffic stop. She said he told her that police had pulled him over due to air fresheners hanging in his rear view mirror. She told him to take them down and to let her speak with police over the phone if they ask for his car insurance so she could give them the information. That's when she heard police ask her son to step out of the vehicle.
A preliminary report released Monday by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner said Daunte Wright died from a gunshot wound to the chest and that his death was a homicide.
Earlier Monday at a press conference, the Brooklyn Center Police Department released body camera footage of the fatal encounter. The police chief said Potter can be heard in the video warning Daunte Wright and her fellow officers that she will be deploying her Taser.
"However, the officer drew their handgun instead of their Taser," Gannon told reporters. "It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet. This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officer's reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright."
Potter can be heard in the video yelling, "Holy s---, I just shot him!"
Officer Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon both resigned Tuesday.
In her resignation letter she wrote, "I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately."
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said he was "appreciative" that Potter submitted her resignation but that he had not asked for it. Elliott said he was not sure if it was because she had heard that she would soon be fired, and by late Tuesday afternoon he had not yet accepted it. He said he hoped her resignation would "bring some calm to the community," but that he would keep working towards "full accountability under the law."
"That's what we're going to continue to work for," Elliott said. "We have to make sure that justice is served, justice is done. Daunte Wright deserves that, his family deserves that."
The mayor said the new police leadership was committed to working with community leaders and protesters, who say Wright was racially profiled.
"We're hoping that we're turning over a new leaf now," he said. "I'm confident of that now."
A decision on whether prosecutors will charge Potter could come as soon as Wednesday.
-- ABC News contributed to this report.
