Stop Killing Black Men, Women and Children

Daunte Wright was 20 years old. He was a father. He was with his girlfriend when he was pulled over for a traffic stop. He called his mother during that traffic stop. He had a life in front of him. And that was taken away needlessly when he was shot and killed by former police officer Kim Potter, long-time veteran officer, and former union president. Daunte should be alive today. 

While Daunte Wright was taking his last breath in Brooklyn Center, many were marching in St. Paul for the memory of Justin Teigen, another young Black man who lost his life at the hands of the police, this time in St. Paul. Justin should be alive today. And all of this, while we watch the trial of former police office Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, yet another Black man killed by police, this time in Minneapolis. George should be alive today. 

This is trauma upon trauma, particularly for people of color, and a story that has gone on too long with chapters that should have never been written.

We stand with the many, especially young people, who have been out on the streets every night this week, telling the police to stop terrorizing Black and Brown bodies and reminding officials – no justice, no peace. We support the community groups who’ve worked tirelessly on the streets, in city halls and community rooms, and at the MN Legislature to stop police violence. And we are deeply concerned by the militaristic response of the police and the national guard to the people protesting the killing of Daunte Wright.

We are in a critical moment. It is patently clear to people in Minnesota, the US, and the world that there are serious problems with policing here and that the people are demanding change.

Join us next Tuesday, April 20, at Time to Act and help make that change. We’ll be calling about police accountability bills. We’ll highlight the bills that lead to safer streets, especially for people of color. We’ll script what to say to key policymakers. We’ll talk about the bills and the actions, then we’ll mute ourselves and make the call. Tell policymakers across the state that we want real and meaningful systemic change. 

We will continue to work in community to dismantle the systems in MN that make these killings possible and probable.

For immediate actions to take and ways to support our community, see our Act Now post.