Families Of Daunte Wright, George Floyd Rally Outside Derek Chauvin Trial

MINNEAPOLIS ― The families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright gathered downtown Tuesday to demand justice for Black people killed by police.

Towering behind them as they made emotional pleas for systemic change was the courthouse where former police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for murder in Floyd’s death.

Wright, 20, was fatally shot in suburban Brooklyn Center by officer Kim Potter during a traffic stop Sunday. Potter, who resigned Tuesday, had intended to use a stun gun and not a firearm on Wright, police said.

Floyd, 46, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly 10 minutes as Floyd stated repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. Chauvin has been charged with second- and third-degree murder as well as manslaughter.

A light snow fell as Ben Crump, a high-profile civil rights attorney representing both families, stood at a lectern and addressed a crowd of reporters.

“This time last year, almost a year ago, they were facing the unimaginable,” Crump said of Floyd’s family. “They were facing the agony of losing a family member to police excessive force.”

“It is just something I could not fathom that in … a suburb 10 miles from where the Chauvin trial regarding George Floyd was taking place that a police officer would shoot and kill another unarmed Black man.”

Wright’s mother, Katie Wright (shown in the photo above), told the crowd that she had been on the phone with her son when he was pulled over by police. She said she could hear “scruffling” between her son and police officers before the call ended.

Seconds later, a woman who was in the car with Daunte Wright called his mother to tell her police had shot him.

“I never imagined this was what was going to happen,” Katie Wright said, becoming emotional. “My son was laying there unresponsive.”

Here are some of the most powerful images from the rally:

Daunte Wright’s grandmother Angie Golson cried as she spoke about her grandson in front of the Hennepin County Government Center. She said she thought somebody was “playing a joke” on her when she was first informed of Wright’s death.

“It hurt me to my heart,” Golson said. “Daunte was a beautiful child. He might not have been an angel, but he was our angel. … He belonged to us. And he’s going to be missed.”

Naisha Wright, Daunte Wright’s aunt, hugged friends and family members at the news conference.

“I watched that video like everybody else watched that video,” Naisha Wright said of the images of her nephew’s killing recorded on Potter’s body-worn camera.

“That woman held that gun out in front of her for a long damn time,” she continued. “A long damn time. … My nephew was a lovable young man. His smile. Oh, Lord, the most beautiful smile. Y’all took that!”

Brandon Williams, Floyd’s nephew, addressed the crowd of reporters outside the Hennepin County Government Center.

“In snow and freezing weather conditions, we came to stand with this family,” Williams said. “A so-called mistake? A handgun for a Taser? It’s unacceptable. When is enough enough? Can you blame Daunte for being terrified as a Black man in the custody of police?”

Deborah Watts (left) spoke in support of the Wright and Floyd families outside the Hennepin County Government Center. The killers of Watts’ cousin, Emmett Till, were acquitted after his brutal 1955 murder in Mississippi.

“We’re still fighting for justice after 66 years,” Watts told HuffPost. “It’s a long journey.”

“We’ve been here before,” she said of the Chauvin trial, “where the evidence has been there, it’s very, very clear, and we’ve left disappointed.”

Watts expressed “hope” for justice but remained “realistic” about history.

“That’s why I say the past is not past until justice is served,” she said. “And that’s what I hope happens in George Floyd’s case, and with Derek Chauvin’s trial and with Daunte, the journey that they have before them. I’m hopeful.”

Crump speaks Tuesday at a news conference in front of the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.

Floyd’s former girlfriend Courteney Ross hugged Katie Wright before the news conference. Ross, who testified in Chauvin’s trial earlier this month, told The Washington Post that she knew Daunte Wright. He was a student while she was a dean at a local high school, Ross said.

“Students like Daunte needed more resources, but they never got more resources,” Ross told the Post. “Our system doesn’t serve kids like Daunte. And now I’m seeing, more than ever, this system I once believed in, we’re done doing what we need to be doing to protect Black life.”

Brandon Williams, nephew of George Floyd, attended the news conference Tuesday with the family of Daunte Wright at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.

Brandon Williams, nephew of George Floyd, attended Tuesday’s news conference with the family of Daunte Wright at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.

Rodney Floyd, younger brother of George Floyd, speaks Tuesday at Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.

“Black folks ― we been here 400-plus years,” Rodney Floyd said. “We’ve been running ever since from these police trying to kill us.”

From left: Chyna Whitaker, the mother of Daunte Wright’s child; their son, Daunte Wright Jr.; Wright’s mother, Katie Wright; and attorney Benjamin Crump at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

Philonise Floyd, one of George Floyd’s younger brothers, spoke at the news conference Tuesday in Minneapolis.

“Y’all have our condolences,” he told Daunte Wright’s family. “We will stand in support with you all.”

“Every day I wake up, I never thought that this world could be in so much disorder like it is now,” he added. “Minneapolis, you all can’t sweep this under the rug anymore.”

The Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

Security fencing outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.

Security fencing restricts the area around the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.

A concrete barrier protects the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.