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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, and St. Paul mayor Melvin Carter, at a joint press conference announced an 7 p.m. curfew for Monday, April 12, in Ramsey, Hennepin, and Anoka counties in response to uprisings following the police killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, after a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. Along with the curfew, political leaders expressed strong emotions and made calls for change in the wake of the shooting.
The curfew means all nonessential businesses, including restaurants and bars, will need to close and allow employees to travel home prior to the designated curfew time. Soon after the announcement was made, a handful of breweries and restaurants announced their intent to close immediately for the day.
Last night, as news spread quickly following Wright’s death, protesters gathered in Brooklyn Center. Some of the unrest localized to Shingle Creek Crossing, a strip mall containing a Wingstop and Domino’s Pizza, which sustained some damage.
John Harrington, Commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, identified the increased law enforcement presence as “Phase 3,” a planned public safety measure expected to be enacted during closing arguments of the Derek Chauvin trial next week in Minneapolis. “You will see literally hundreds and hundreds of uniformed individuals out tonight,” Harrington said.
Chauvin is a former Minneapolis police officer on trial in the killing of George Floyd. Following Floyd’s death, three nights of unrest included property damage near the police precinct where Chauvin was based and resulted in months of protests over police brutality in cities across the United States.
Bodycam video released on April 12 showed that Wright’s killing was possibly an accident, with the Brooklyn Center police officer saying, “Taser,” before firing her weapon.
