Black Lives Matter protest in Minnesota following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, photo Fibonacci Blue/CC

Black Lives Matter protest in Minnesota following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, photo Fibonacci Blue/CC   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Incredibly, in the middle of the trial of white cop Derek Chauvin, accused of murdering unarmed black man George Floyd, a Minnesota white cop shot dead 20-year-old black motorist Duante Wright, who had been stopped for a traffic violation.

As angry protesters marched, in defiance of a curfew, to the Brooklyn Center police station (just ten miles from Minneapolis city centre where George Floyd died), the Minnesota police chief said the shooting was “an accidental discharge”. He claimed the officer who shot Wright meant to fire their Taser weapon instead.

This lame excuse was met with incredulity. How can the two weapons be confused? Many protesters, who were subject to tear gassing and stun grenades by riot police, instead see the latest shooting as further evidence of systemic racism within the US law enforcement and criminal justice system.

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