The Gateway Pundit reports that Dante Wright, a 20-year-old black man, was pulled over by police around 2 p.m. Sunday in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, and the officers tried to handcuff Wright and bring him back to the station, but Wright broke free and got back into his car; the officers then shot Wright. Wright drove his vehicle several blocks away before colliding with another vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene after officers failed to resuscitate him.
According to a police release, the woman in the car and Wright did not suffer life-threatening injuries, and the driver of the vehicle that was hit was not injured.
Brooklyn Center is a city of about 30,000 people in Hennepin County, located on the west bank of the Mississippi River on the northwest border of Minneapolis, about 12 miles north of where Floyd died on the street where Wright died. The Downtown Brooklyn Police Department, a state law enforcement agency, investigated Floyd’s murder, as well as other officer-involved deaths. The police department said it will provide more information as the investigation unfolds.
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Wright was pulled over by police because officers determined the driver of the vehicle had an outstanding warrant for missing a Zoom court hearing in a misdemeanor case, according to a notice issued by Brooklyn Center police Sunday.
According to Virtual Channel 4 (WCCO), Wright’s mother, Katie, told reporters that Wright was on his way to a car wash when he was pulled over. Wright called and said to her, “Mom, I got pulled over. …… They’re asking about insurance.” Then Katie heard the police officer come to the window and say, “Put the phone down and get out of the car. Wright asks, “Why? “, the officer said, “We’ll explain it to you when you get out of the car”.
Katie then heard the scraping sound of the phone either being placed on the dashboard or dropped, and she heard the officer say, “Don’t run” and another officer say, “Put the phone down” and hang up the phone. About a minute later, calling back, Wright’s girlfriend answered that Wright he had been shot and killed.
A Minnesota Public Radio reporter tweeted that Wright’s family said the traffic violation that led to his being pulled over was the air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. For their part, police said Monday that Wright was initially pulled over for an expired registration sticker and the officer then saw the illegal dangling item on the rearview mirror. Under Minnesota State Patrol rules, drivers are not allowed to hang air fresheners or anything else from their mirrors because it could block the driver’s view.
The shooting sparked protests in central Brooklyn Sunday night. Protesters gathered at the scene of Wright’s death Sunday night, according to the Star Tribune. Officers from Brooklyn Center and other departments arrived at the scene wearing body armor, riot gear, masks and shields, and deployed non-lethal rounds at some in the crowd, according to photos and video from the scene. Protesters later moved to Brooklyn Center Police Department headquarters.
The Gateway Pundit reported that Wright has several Facebook pages, one of which was still up and running at 10:33 a.m. CDT Monday. On his Facebook page, Wright often posts photos of him posing in gang gestures, and in at least one photo, he is shown gesturing while holding a handgun next to him.
Summary of Wright’s various gang gestures photos
According to Wright’s Facebook profile, Wright shared videos and posts about Floyd after Floyd’s death in May 2020.
Wright, 20, was born in Chicago and moved to Minnesota as a young man, according to Heavy.com. He attended Edison High School and Blaine High School and studied at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. His son will turn 2 this July.
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