WASHINGTON, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Protesters clashed with police for a third night on Tuesday night in Brooklyn Center, in the U.S. state Minnesota, in the wake of the police killing of 20-year-old black man Daunte Wright in a traffic stop.
The third day of protest began peacefully. By the time the city's 10 p.m. curfew started, hundreds of protesters had dwindled to a few dozen, said a CNN report.
Chaos erupted around the Brooklyn Center police station. Officers used pepper spray and fired flash bombs at protesters, who hurled water bottles and other projectiles at officers in riot gear, said the report.
Demonstrators were also seen scaling a fence outside the FBI office, holding a banner reading, "Justice for Daunte Wright," said the report. National Guard troops were deployed in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Washington County prosecutor Pete Orput told CNN on Tuesday that he is weighing charges for former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter who shot Wright dead on Sunday in a traffic stop.
"I hope to have a charging decision by tomorrow (Wednesday)," said Orput.
Potter, a 48-year-old veteran female police officer, resigned on Tuesday, along with the city's police chief Tim Gannon.
Gannon told reporters on Monday that Potter mistakenly used her gun instead of her taser at the time and based on his experience and training, the Sunday shooting leading to the death of Wright seemed to be an "accidental discharge."
"No conclusions should be made until the investigation is complete," the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association said in a statement released earlier on Tuesday, calling for protests to be peaceful.
Wright's family is not "prepared to say that that was an accident," their attorney Jeffrey Storms told CNN on Tuesday.
Brooklyn Center, a city of about 31,000, is just a few miles away from Minneapolis, where the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin over black man George Floyd's death in May 2020 is underway.
"We will fight for justice for this family, just like we're fighting for our brother," Philonise Floyd said on Tuesday, extending his family's condolences to the family of Wright. Enditem
