The Sunday shooting death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, at the hands of a Brooklyn Center police officer, has shaken the Twin Cities metro and the Minnesota political scene today.
Gov. Tim Walz placed all of Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka counties under an emergency curfew tonight, starting at 7 p.m. [Read more]
Walz also called on the Legislature to "hold hearings" on law enforcement reform. By this, Walz meant — but did not explicitly say — the Republican-controlled Senate, which hasn't held any hearings on this issue. The DFL-controlled House has.
President Joe Biden addressed Wright's death briefly Monday afternoon, emphasizing the need for "peaceful protest" rather than violence. [Read more from CNN's Maegan Vazquez]
Democratic lawmakers have been pushing policing changes including mandatory release of body camera footage soon after police shootings. That provision and others are in the House's public safety budget, but those changes have met with resistance from law enforcement groups and the Republican-controlled Senate. Some DFL lawmakers want to cease negotiations on the state's budget until a policing bill gets passed. [Read more from Brian Bakst]
State Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, issued a statement focusing on "monumental reforms" passed last year that are "currently being implemented," but not calling for any other legal changes. Limmer is the chair of the Senate Public Safety and Judiciary Committee.
Police dispersed protesters last night with tear gas and flash-bang grenades. There were also incidents of looting in Brooklyn Center and Minneapolis. Crowds are likely to be much larger tonight, when people have had a full day to learn more about the incident. [Read more from MPR News]
Unlike the riots last year, when it took several days for National Guard soldiers to deploy in significant numbers after unrest began, the Guard was already on standby because of the ongoing Derek Chauvin trial. Guard personnel were on scene late last night. [Read more]
The Brooklyn Center police chief said the shooting was caused by a police officer who apparently intended to stun Wright with a Taser but grabbed and used the lethal handgun instead. [Read more]
Police officers accidentally using their handgun instead of a Taser happens rarely but regularly in the United States — perhaps a little less than once per year nationwide, on average. Officer training, positioning of their Taser and gun on the body, and stressful situations have all been highlighted as reasons why this sometimes-fatal mistake can happen. [Read more from The Associated Press's Ryan J. Foley]
The Twins, Wild and Timberwolves all cancelled their planned home games tonight, in the wake of Wright's killing as well as the 7 p.m. curfew.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott has been taking center stage today in the response to the shooting. Worth remembering: Brooklyn Center has a "council-manager" form of government, in which the "mayor" is more like the chairman of the board of directors, and a professional city manager handles the daily executive government of the city. Unlike some council-manager forms of government, the Brooklyn Center mayor is directly elected (rather than chosen by the council); the mayor is considered "the official head of the City for all ceremonial purposes " (emphasis added), but "in time of public danger or emergency the Mayor may, with the consent of the Council, take command of the police, maintain order and enforce the law." [Read the Brooklyn Center charter]
Important context: Brooklyn Center is not just a random Twin Cities suburb. It's home to one of the metro's most significant Black populations — larger as a share of the population than Minneapolis — and has seen its Black population share increase sixfold over the past 30 years.
Meanwhile:
Jennifer Carnahan was reelected Saturday as chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, beating back a feisty challenge from state Sen. Mark Koran. Despite accusations of financial mismanagement and public criticisms from other senior party officials, the race ultimately wasn't even close: Carnahan won on the first ballot with 67 percent of votes. [Read more]
Carnahan today attacked Walz for his tweet that Minnesota "mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement," saying that "for a governor to lead by casting blame and perpetuating a narrative of an unknown situation is not only irresponsible, it is conduct unbecoming of a governor." Carnahan also confusingly called for Walz to "censure himself."
Something completely different: The cold open on this weekend's "Saturday Night Live" was a sketch of a Minnesota news panel discussing the Chauvin trial. Aside from the commentary, it also included this instant-classic parody of Minnesota weather forecasts by Chris Redd:
Listen: Perhaps the single most beautiful piece of music I know of is the early modern composer Thomas Tallis' "Spem in alium," a truly astonishing 40-part motet. Listen on the best speakers or headphones you have. [ Watch]
