Hundreds of mourners filled a Minneapolis church on Thursday for the funeral of Daunte Wright, a Black man whose shooting by police after a traffic stop has sparked fresh concerns over the way cops treat people of color.
Lisa Bernhard produced this report.
KATIE WRIGHT, DAUNTE WRIGHT’S MOTHER: “I never imagined that I’d be standing here.
The roles should completely be reversed.
My son should be burying me.” Hundreds of mourners filled a Minneapolis church Thursday for the funeral of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man whose shooting in nearby Brooklyn Center, Minnesota by a white police officer after a traffic stop has sparked fresh concerns over the way cops treat people of color.
His mother Katie Wright fought through tears as she spoke from the podium.
“My son had a smile that was worth a million dollars.
When he walked in a room, he lit up the room.” Wright was laid to rest just two days after a Minneapolis jury found a white police officer guilty of murdering George Floyd last May, a killing that triggered worldwide protests for racial justice.
Floyd's family was among those in attendance Thursday, as well as the loved ones of several other Black Americans who were killed by police, including the mother of Philando Castile and the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor.
REV.
AL SHARPTON: “The world will never be the same, because we are gonna stand up for situations like this!” Reverend Al Sharpton gave a rousing eulogy, in which he invoked the reason Wright was stopped – for expired tags, or license plates – as a means to demand social justice.
“Well, I come to Minnesota to tell you, your tags have expired.
Your tags of racism have expired.
Your tags of police brutality have expired.
Your tags of white supremacy have expired.
Your tags of looking at us differently than everybody else have expired.” Police video of the shooting showed multiple officers attempting to arrest Wright, before Officer Kimberly Potter threatens to stun him with her Taser but instead fires her handgun.
Potter, who has resigned, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.
