After Brooklyn Center Traffic Stop Policy Rejected, Protests Form Around Police Station
After the Brooklyn Center City Council rejected a traffic stop reform policy on Monday, Jan. 22, protesters gathered at the police station on Tuesday with a message for the council and police.
“As mothers of two deceased young boys in the community by this police department, we’re just her to say, you know, we aren’t done,” said Amity Dimock, the mother of Kobe Dimock-Heisler. “This doesn’t go away.”
Dimock-Heisler — a 21-year-old who was on the autism spectrum — was fatally shot by Brooklyn Center police officers during a domestic incident in 2019.
Dimcok sits on a police reform committee created after the officer-involved shooting of Daunte Wright. Wright was fatally shot during a traffic stop by former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter in 2021 while resisting arrest. A jury later found Potter guilty of manslaughter.
Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, also sits on the committee.
Protestors stand outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Jan. 23.
Both mothers stood outside the police station at 67th and Humboldt on Tuesday night. They told CCX they were surprised the council rejected the traffic stop proposal.
“To have so many community members put their life on the line like that to make changes and to sit in spaces with people that we thought were actually going to do the right thing, it’s like a punch in the gut,” Wright said.
The protest followed a tense city council meeting, where the governing body rejected the policy in a 3-2 vote.
If approved, the policy would have restricted police officers from making traffic stops for low-level offenses like expired tabs.
Police temporarily blocked off city streets during the demonstration, which drew about 30 participants.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Kellace McDaniel is retiring on Jan. 31.
“I will honestly feel that I do not feel comfortable implementing or saying these to my officers,” McDaniel told the council when discussing the traffic stop policy in October.
