Minnesota police arrest 40 during another night of unrest after Daunte Wright shooting

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Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright identified

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Minnesota authorities arrested about 40 people after protesters and police clashed for a second night in Brooklyn Center, Minn., authorities said during a press conference early Tuesday. 

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in defiance of the city's curfew and demanded justice for Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man fatally shot by police during a traffic stop. 

The crowd chanted Wright's name and some shouted obscenities at police.

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Authorities fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades into the crowd after warning them that they were in violation of curfew. Protesters retaliated by throwing smoke canisters back toward law enforcement, while others launched fireworks at the police lines, according to reports. 

"Move back!" police told the crowd. "Hands up! Don't shoot!" the crowd chanted back. 

Protesters clash with police over the shooting death of Daunte Wright at a rally at the Brooklyn Center Police Department Monday, April 12, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minn. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

Authorities said officers were shelled "pretty significantly," with objects thrown from the crowd. A few officers were hit by debris and suffered minor injuries during the unrest, police said. 

Prior to the curfew, Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matt Langer said law enforcement leaders made attempts to talk with protest leaders about figuring how to peacefully disperse the crowds, but "unfortunately, those efforts weren't successful ... so ... [we] stood and protected that building."

The roughly 40 arrests were made at the Brooklyn Center Police Department protest, Langer said. He added that people were arrested for violations including breaching curfew and rioting.

Looters also broke into several businesses at a strip mall near the police station, including a Dollar Tree store, according to reports. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. Tuesday for counties that included Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, the state capital.

Police had put up a fence and concrete barricades around the precinct. It was surrounded by local police, as well as, Minnesota National Guard and Minnesota State Patrol officers, the Star Tribune reported. 

Amelia Huffman, the Minneapolis Police Department’s deputy chief for professional standards, said 13 people were also arrested in Minneapolis amid the demonstrations -- four for burglaries, two were suspects in shots-fired incidents, six were for curfew violations, and one was on an outstanding warrant.

Huffman said five businesses were burglarized in Minneapolis during the unrest.

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Protesters advance towards officers using umbrellas as shields outside Brooklyn Center Police Department a day after Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, April 12, 2021. (REUTERS/Nick Pfosi)

Law enforcement issued dispersal orders to the crowd after 7:30 p.m. local time. Authorities warned that crowd that curfew violations are misdemeanor charges for anyone arrested.

Officers started making arrests shortly after 9 p.m., according to the Minnesota Operation Safety Net Twitter account. Brooklyn Center is located about 10 miles northwest of Minneapolis. 

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon described the shooting death Sunday of Wright as "an accidental discharge." He died of a gunshot wound to the chest, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office said in a statement.

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It happened as police were trying to arrest Wright on an outstanding warrant. The shooting sparked protests and unrest in a metropolitan area already on edge because of the trial of the first of four police officers charged in George Floyd’s death.

The Associated Press contributed to this report