As more details emerge regarding the fatal police shooting of 20-year-old, unarmed black Minnesota man Daunte Wright, many Bronx political figures have spoken out against the young man’s apparently accidental killing by the hands of an experienced officer.
At the congressional level, both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman reacted to the shooting on Twitter:
Daunte Wright’s killing was not a random, disconnected “accident” – it was the repeated outcome of an indefensible system that grants impunity for state violence, rewards it w/ endlessly growing budgets at the cost of community investment, & targets those who question that order.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 13, 2021
There’s no justification for killing someone over expired plates.
There’s no justification to mention damage to property before the damage police killings inflict on Black America. https://t.co/vE4moYrRSg
— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) April 13, 2021
State senators Jamaal T. Bailey and Alessandra Biaggi also voiced their thoughts on Twitter.
It’s exhausting. Just exhausting. Air fresheners and accidental discharges.
This is why our parents gave us a different version of “the talk” in our household.
This is why Lt. Nazario was afraid to get out of the car. Please stop killing us. Please. https://t.co/jr0gRKbnMG
— Jamaal T. Bailey (@jamaaltbailey) April 13, 2021
We must rethink taking traffic stops out of the hands of law enforcement. https://t.co/p36k2s3Myd
— Alessandra Biaggi (@Biaggi4NY) April 13, 2021
Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson spoke to the Bronx Times on the matter as well.
“I am just disheartened, I’m disgusted, it’s really a shame that another African American man in America has been shot and killed at the hands of police,” Gibson said.
She also expressed skepticism of longtime officer Kim Porter accidentally drawing her gun instead of her taser during the fatal traffic stop.
“A rookie officer, yes I could understand, but a 25-year veteran we have a problem – and all for an air freshener,” the councilwoman added about the former officer now facing second-degree manslaughter charges.
Gibson too noted that the uproar of protests over Wright’s killing are happening insequence with the trial of former police officer, Derek Chauvin who is facing murder charges after kneeling on the neck of fellow Minnesota man, George Floyd.
“I think it’s a reminder of what it means to be Black in America and the fact that Black men are just not safe,” she said.
