Second night of protests break out over police shooting in Minneapolis

Hundreds of protesters defied a nighttime curfew on Monday and clashed with police for a second night in Brooklyn Center, Minn., following Sunday’s fatal shooting of a black man during a traffic stop. Police in riot gear used gas canisters and flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowds. Authorities reported the arrests of about 40 people and minor injuries to some police officers. Earlier in the day, Judge Peter Cahill refused a defense attorney’s request to sequester the jury in former officer Derek Chauvin’s trial. Chauvin’s lawyer argued that seeing news coverage of protests and riots in response to the latest shooting could influence the jury’s eventual decision of whether to convict his client of murder in the death of George Floyd in May during an arrest attempt.

How did Sunday’​s shooting happen? A police officer, identified by authorities as 26-year veteran Kim Potter, shot Daunte Wright, 20, during a traffic stop. Wright was reentering his vehicle after struggling with police, who were trying to carry out an arrest warrant. Body camera footage shows Potter shouting “taser” three times before firing her gun. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said the officer intended to fire her taser but accidentally shot Wright. He released the officer’s body camera footage less than 24 hours after the shooting. Potter is now on administrative leave as authorities investigate the shooting.

Dig deeper: Read my report in Compassion on cities’ efforts to reform police after the death of George Floyd.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.