
- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D), a tribal citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, tweeted on Sunday afternoon that Minnesota is “a place where it is not safe to be Black.”
Her comments come one week today after the Daunte Wright, Jr., a Black man, was killed by a 26-year veteran Brooklyn Center, Minn. police officer who claimed she thought she was using her taser gun, not her service revolver. The officer, who was president of the police union, resigned on Tuesday.
And, Flannagan’s post to Twitter came one day before the jury will hear the closing arguments in the trial of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with the second-degree murder of George Floyd, a Black man.
Here is the Lt. Governor’s Tweet:
“This week I have felt my role as a mother so deeply,” wrote Flanagan, describing “heartbreaking conversations” she had had with her daughter regarding Wright’s death.
“We must never forget the reason there are protesters and law enforcement in our streets is because Daunte Wright was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop,” Flanagan continued. “Katie Wright lost her son. Daunte Wright, Jr. — not yet 2 years old — lost his father. Daunte Wright should still be alive.”
“As a child advocate,” she declared, “I am grappling with the stark reality: Minnesota is a place where it is not safe to be Black. This is the essence of an emergency we face.”
“This is our reputation, and this is our shame,” she wrote, advocating for her state to rethink policing and crowd control, to “find the right balance between safety and that free expression.”
“Going forward, our moral imperative is to ensure that the sets of circumstances and conditions that led to the death of Daunte Wright, Sr. will be different for Daunte Wright, Jr. and every other child like him.”
More Stories Like This
This Day in History — May 28, 1830, Andrew Jackson Signs Indian Removal ActNative News Weekly (May 28, 2023): D.C. Briefs
Oklahoma Legislature Overrides Governor Stitt’s Veto of Native Regalia Bill
Native Bidaské with Lummi Nation Chairman Anthony Hillaire on the Opioid Crisis
Tohono O’odham Citizen Shot and Killed by U.S. Border Patrol; FBI Investigating
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.