Daunte Wright March and Protest, Brooklyn Center Police Department

Daunte Wright, 20, died on April 11, 2021, after being shot by Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter during a traffic stop on 63rd Avenue North. Potter, a 26-year veteran of the department, later said she mistook her handgun for a Taser; she resigned two days after the shooting and was later convicted of manslaughter. Crowds gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department building on Humboldt Avenue in the days following Wright's death, prompting the deployment of Minnesota National Guard troops and State Patrol officers to the site. The department, which serves a city of about 30,000 residents in Hennepin County, faced weeks of nightly demonstrations calling for police accountability. Wright's death came less than 10 miles from the courthouse where former officer Derek Chauvin was on trial at the time for the killing of George Floyd.