Mother of Daunte Wright Recalls Phone Call During Arrest: ‘I Never Imagined This Was What Was Going to Happen’
It was another emotional day Tuesday following Sunday’s fatal police shooting in Brooklyn Center. With chants of “say his name, Daunte Wright, say his name, Daunte Wright,” family, friends and supporters of the 20-year-old Black man who was killed called for justice during a rally in Minneapolis.
The mother of Daunte Wright, Katie Wright, spoke at the rally. She recalled the phone call she had received from her son as he was pulled over at precisely 1:47 p.m. Sunday. Katie Wright says her son got pulled over because he “had air fresheners hanging in the rearview mirror,” her son told her. The officers asked her son to put the phone down and get out of the car. Wright says she could hear a scuffle ensue.
“I never imagined this was what was going to happen. I just thought maybe he was being arrested,” Wright said.
“And then when I called back, the girl [Daunte] said he had in the car, answered the phone, and it was on FaceTime, and she said …she was crying and screaming… and she said, ‘they shot him.’ And she pointed the phone toward the driver’s seat, and my son was laying there, unresponsive. That’s last time I’ve seen my son, the last time I’ve heard from son, and I’ve had no explanation, since then.”
Also at the rally was the family of George Floyd, who died last May under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
The family says the 20-year-old Wright had a “big personality” and “a smile that could light up a room.”
photo of Daunte Wright
Also see: Brooklyn Center Police Chief, Officer Who Fired Fatal Shot Submit Resignations
