Police arrest almost 100 people in Brooklyn Center on sixth night of Daunte Wright protests

Police on Friday took nearly 100 people into custody following a sixth straight night of protests following the fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright.

While protests this week had remained relatively peaceful in Brooklyn Center, Minn., where a police officer shot and killed Wright during a Sunday traffic stop, authorities said that they gave dispersal orders Friday after crowds of demonstrators attempted to break the fence surrounding the Brooklyn Center Police Department, ABC News reported. 

Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said in a press conference that there were about 500 people protesting throughout the streets of the city Friday evening, when he said some demonstrators started shaking the fence and throwing glass bottles. 

ABC reported that police gave three dispersal orders before eventually arresting the members of the crowd who remained or brought weapons to the area. 

Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson said in a press briefing Friday that he was “saddened” by the actions of some of the demonstrators. 

“Trying to cut down the fence to get into a safe area, their intentions are to cause harm to either the building or the police officers and deputies inside the fence,” Hutchinson said. “We need to grieve; we don’t need to have more problems with destruction and deputies hurt, officers hurt.”

“This is a night that should have been about Daunte Wright, should have been folks there recognizing his death and the tragedy that that is,” the sheriff added. “Tearing down a fence, coming armed to a protest, is not, in my mind, befitting a peaceful protest.”

This is the moment police charged the crowd in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, tonight. pic.twitter.com/XvMkhy0ZFz

— Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs (@NickAtNews) April 17, 2021

The Friday arrests come after police said they detained 24 people on Wednesday, including on charges of rioting and violating the 10 p.m. curfew. 

Approximately 72 people were arrested in demonstrations on Tuesday, police said. 

Some journalists covering the protests allege that police have harassed and attempted to forcibly remove them, prompting a federal judge in Minnesota to grant a temporary restraining order Friday that is set to last for two weeks. 

The order states that police cannot use physical force or chemical agents against the media or take away their press passes.

Friday’s demonstrations came a day after Wright’s family called for more severe charges to be brought against former officer Kim Potter, whom police identified as the cop who shot and killed Wright. 

Potter, a 48-year-old white woman, was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter after resigning from the police department. 

Police claimed that Potter in the Sunday incident had meant to use her Taser on Wright, who is Black, but mistakenly grabbed her gun instead. 

Potter, who faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 if convicted, made her initial court appearance on Thursday.