Democratic Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul, Minnesota, said that jail time for the police officers accused of killing George Floyd and Daunte Wright was only a start.
Carter spoke at a Monday press conference, responding to both the traffic stop that resulted in the shooting death of Daunte Wright and the ongoing trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged in the May 2020 death of George Floyd. (RELATED: Minnesota Republicans Says Gov. Waltz’s Response To Wright Shooting ‘Fuels The Fire’ For Protesters)
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“When we recognize this strong, horrific trend that keeps happening over and over and over again, we have to know that Daunte Wright will not be the last name, will not be the last hashtag on this list — until and unless we take decisive and urgent action to ensure that he is,” Carter said.
He went on to say that it wasn’t only those involved who were watching to see the outcome of Chauvin’s trial.
“The world is watching the Chauvin trial. The world will watch this process. And the world will ask if there’s justice,” Carter continued. “But let me tell you, someone landing in jail for their deaths may be a starting point but it’s not justice.”
Carter concluded by offering his condolences to the Wright family, adding, “Any one of us with children, parents, cousins, siblings that we love know there’s no such thing as justice.”
Reports have indicated that the police officer who shot Wright may have done so accidentally when she intended to reach for her taser.
“This appears to me, from what I viewed in the officer’s reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright,” Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said in a news conference.
Protesters and rioters took to the streets of Minneapolis on Monday morning following Wright’s death. President Joe Biden later condemned the riots and said that the shooting “does not justify violence.”