Police and protesters clashed for a third night in the U.S. state of Minnesota after an officer shot a 20-year-old African American man during a traffic stop.
Authorities in the Minneapolis area had set a 10 p.m. curfew to try to keep people off the streets, but hundreds of people gathered outside the police headquarters in the suburb of Brooklyn Center as they called for justice in the case.
Police ordered the crowd to disperse, and ensuing confrontations involved protesters launching objects at police and officers using flashbang and gas grenades.
Protests began late Sunday after officer Kim Potter shot Daunte Wright. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner said Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest and classified the manner of death as a homicide.
Hennepin County prosecutors have referred the case to nearby Washington County, where top prosecutor Pete Orput said he hoped to have a decision about whether to issue any charges by Wednesday.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said he has asked Minnesota’s governor to assign the case to the state attorney general’s office.
In a statement Tuesday, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association said “no conclusions should be made until the investigation is complete.”
Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center police department, resigned Tuesday.
“I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately,” she said in a letter.
Elliot also announced Tuesday Police Chief Tim Gannon would also be resigning.
Gannon in a Monday news conference said he believes Potter accidentally shot Wright when she meant to use her Taser. A Taser is a non-lethal electroshock weapon used to incapacitate an individual by an electric shock, thus allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and safe manner.
