Car drives through crowd of Daunte Wright supporters in downtown Minneapolis; no injuries reported
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Tense moments unfolded Tuesday evening outside the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis after a car drove past some barricades into the area where protesters were calling for justice for Daunte Wright.
Video shows protesters trying to get the driver to stop, with some on the roof pounding the vehicle. The car continued south down Seventh Street.
Officer Garrett Parten, spokesman for the Minneapolis Police Department, said no one was injured and no one called 911 to report the incident.
Police are not working to track down the driver because the protesters did not have a permit to block off the street and thus the driver was not committing a crime by entering the area, Parten said.
Earlier in the day, the space outside the courthouse was filled with people who had gathered to support Wright’s family on the first day of the trial for former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, who is charged with manslaughter in his death.
Protesters demanding justice for Daunte Wright march through the streets of downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Jury selection began Tuesday in the manslaughter trial for Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer who shot and killed Wright.[Jim O'Connell/KSTP]
Chants of "Say his name: Daunte Wright" echoed outside the government center as jury selection began. Four of the needed 14 jurors and alternates were seated during Tuesday’s proceedings.
"They are on the 18th floor, and we’re down here," Sharolyn Hagen said. "I hope they can feel a little bit of our presence."
Hagen and Jeanelle Austin came with paper, markers and pens to create a space strung between two trees for protesters to "write it forward" and express their thoughts about this moment for Wright’s family.
"Your family is going to be put on the stand, your life is going to be exposed, they are going tease apart every good, every bad thing about Daunte," Austin said. "That’s going to be extremely painful."
Their plan is to compile all the notes, pictures and letters in a binder and give them to the Wright family. They hope the messages will help the Wright family feel supported during trial.
"Standing with them in spirit and love and truth and hope, and they just need to know we’ve got their back. We’ve got their back," Austin said.