Just hours after Daunte Wright was mistakenly, but fatally shot by a Minnesota police officer, some Democrat lawmakers are re-raising the issue of defunding the police and calling for the end of police entirely.
During a traffic stop near Minneapolis, veteran officer Kimberly Potter fired a single fatal shot at Wright as she mistakenly confused her gun for her Taser, police officials said on Monday. The Brooklyn Center Police Department released bodycam video of the incident soon after it happened to try to ease tensions in a state on edge over the Derek Chauvin trial.
"He was pulled over for having an expired registration on the vehicle," Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said Monday. "When the officer went over, an item hanging from the rearview mirror was spotted." It was after that, Gannon said, that the officers discovered that a "gross misdemeanor warrant" for Wright's arrest had been issued.
According to Hennepin County District Court documents Wright and one other man had been charged with first-degree attempted aggravated robbery in December 2019 for allegedly trying to steal $820 from a woman at gunpoint.
“Instead of complying with the officers commands, he got into a physical altercation and then tried to flee,” Carl DeMaio stated. “It’s clear from the bodycam footage that the arresting officer yelled, ‘Taser, Taser, Taser,’ but Potter drew her firearm instead,” DeMaio continued.
Now, Members of the “Squad” (Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley) are ramping up calls for dismantling the police stating it’s racism and that this event amounts to “government-funded murder.”
“It wasn’t an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence,” Rashida Tlaib tweeted. “I am done with those who condone government-funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed,” she concluded.
“This violence is a basic part of police interactions with communities of color,” Ilhan Omar wrote in a tweet. “It must stop.”
Ayanna Pressley wrote in a message, “From slave patrols to traffic stops. We can’t reform this.”
“Is this racism? No. Provably, no. Is it an example of police brutality? No, it’s not,” said DeMaio. “They cannot accept any other narrative from this tragedy, but the narrative that fits their terrible, divisive, and very dangerous political agenda,” he continued.
Listen to Carl break down what happened and expose the Democrat agenda to defund the police HERE
**Photo Credit: Getty Images