Protesters, police clash for 3rd night in Minneapolis, 60 arrested

Angry Americans marched and mourned for the third consecutive night Tuesday over the police killing of a Black man in the Minneapolis suburb.

Daunte Wright, 20, was shot and killed by Kim Potter, a now-former police officer, during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center on Sunday. 

Hundreds of people gathered outside of the Brooklyn Center Police Department Tuesday. The group marched to the FBI building in Brooklyn Center, then back to the police department, chanting, waving flags and displaying signs.

Before 9 p.m. — still one hour before curfew began in Brooklyn Center — tensions started to rise, with some protesters trying to knock down a fence outside of the FBI office, while holding a banner reading "Justice for Daunte Wright."

Law enforcement started to give dispersal orders for the assembly. Police, then, began to arrest protesters just before 9:10 p.m. and about a half-hour later, a second dispersal notice was given.

The unified command in Brooklyn Center made "upwards of 60 arrests" Tuesday night, said Chief of the Minnesota State Patrol Matt Langer. 

The American Civil Liberties Union chapter in Minnesota said on Twitter, "Brooklyn Center passed a resolution banning unnecessary crowd control measures intended to stifle protest including rubber bullets, teargas and kittling."

"We urge all law enforcement agencies there to follow this policy and remember honoring the Constitution is part of your job."

Meanwhile, prosecutors are deciding whether to press charges against the officer, with Washington County Prosecutor Pete Orput telling CNN that he hopes to have a charging decision regarding Potter by Wednesday.

"I hope to have a charging decision by tomorrow," Orput said in an email Tuesday afternoon. "I just received voluminous documents and with enough coffee I'll have something tomorrow."

Body camera video released by the police department on Monday shows while the officer attempted to take Wright into custody, he attempted to re-enter his car and there is a struggle between them.

The officer panics and shouts "Taser! Taser! Taser!" but then instead pulls out a gun and fires a single shot into him. Wright drives off for a short distance, later crashing and dying from the gunshot wound.

The killing of Wright is at least the third high-profile death of a Black man during a police encounter in the Minneapolis area in the past five years.

Philando Castile was shot dead during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights in 2016.

George Floyd, another Black man, died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, knelt on his neck and pinned him to the ground for nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.

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