A MINNESOTA police union head has sparked outrage by blaming Daunte Wright for his own death at the hands of a female cop.
Brian Peters, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, said Wright had not been complying with instructions and he was the one responsible for setting off a “chain of events” that “unfortunately, led to his death.
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Peters told WCCO news talk radio: “This is going to be an unpopular statement.
“Daunte Wright, if he would have just complied. He was told he was under arrest.
“They were arresting him on a warrant for weapons.
“He set off a chain of events that unfortunately led to his death.”
“I’m not excusing it,” Peters continued. “But what we’re seeing in policing these days is that non-compliance by the public.”
Host Henry Lake wrote on Twitter: “Just like I just said on the show, for Brian Peters, Executive Director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association to talk about compliance won’t lead to death, that is a slap in the face to the family of Philando Castile.
“He should publicly apologize. Yes I said it.”
In a reply to the post, ‘Eric’ said: “Another method that doesn't lead to death is "don't shoot people."
Another posted: “Plus, the definition of "being compliant" is inevitably changed to stricter & stricter guidelines. And you end up with police officers who believe having the "wrong" tone of voice is being "non-compliant" & a justified reason for escalation.”
A third commented: “He DID comply. he did exactly what the officer told him to do. and he was murdered for it.”
Wright, 20, was shot and killed by Officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb Sunday.
Bodycam footage shows Potter yelling, “Taser! Taser!” before she fired off a single round from her service weapon, mortally wounding Wright.
Immediately after she is heard saying, “Holy s**t, I shot him.”
Peters’ controversial statement comes one day after both Potter and Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon both resigned.
Following the shooting Gannon said Potter, a 26-year veteran, thought she had grabbed her Taser instead of her firearm.
The resignations came in the wake of a city council vote Monday to terminate Gannon and Potter as well as City Manager Curt Boganey.
“This is way over his head,” Peters said of Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott. “Both Curt Boganey and Tim Gannon were political pawns in whatever game the current mayor is playing. If I were the mayor, I would not allow the political activists to run the show.”
Wright’s death, which took just 10 miles from where George Floyd’s police-custody death happened on May 25 last year, has triggered widespread outrage and protests in Brooklyn Center and elsewhere in the US.
Potter was released from Hennepin County jail around 5.40pm Wednesday after posting a $100,000 bond, according to jail records.
She faces a second-degree manslaughter charge.
The maximum sentence for the charge is a 10-year jail sentence and a $20,000 fine, Minnesota statutes state.
Wright's parents have refused to accept that their son was killed by "mistake."
"I lost my son, he's never coming back," Wright's dad, Aubrey Wright, told ABC News.
"I can't accept that – a mistake, that doesn't even sound right.
"This officer has been on the force for 26 years. I can't accept that."
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also rebutted the police claim that Wright’s death was an “accident,” and argued instead that his death was a result of “an indefensible system that grants impunity for state violence.”
Demonstrators in Brooklyn Center took to the streets for a fourth night in a row.
Protestors waved a pig’s head at cops and stormed the local police station last night.
Hundreds of protesters were still outside of the station as the city's 10pm curfew approached, demanding that more serious charges be brought against Potter for ending the young black man's life.
Video of Wednesday night's protest shows officers behind a fence firing cans of pepper spray at protesters.
The gathering was declared an "unlawful assembly" before the curfew went into effect, according to FOX9.
Some demonstrators in the crowd can be seen tossing multiple items at officers as they chant, "What's his name – Daunte Wright."
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