Fresh protests broke out Monday night in Minneapolis despite a curfew implemented after a police officer fatally shot a young black man when she appeared to confuse her handgun with her taser, fueling tensions in a US city already on edge because of the George Floyd murder trial.
Shortly before 9:00 pm local time (12pm AEST Tuesday), nearly two hours after the curfew went into effect, dozens of protesters continued to wave signs and chant slogans in front of the police station in Brooklyn Center, where Sunday's killing occurred.
Demonstrators taunted police through newly-erected wire fencing around the station, and carried signs saying "Jail all racist killer cops," "Am I next?" and "No justice, no peace."
Police fired tear gas at the protesters several times and ordered them to disperse.
This was the second consecutive night of protests after 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot dead by police while driving with his girlfriend.
In police body camera video released earlier Monday in Brooklyn Center, an officer shouts "Taser! Taser! Taser!" but then instead fires a gun at the victim.
"The officer drew their handgun instead of their taser," said Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon.
Mr Gannon said it was his belief that the officer, now on leave pending an investigation, "had the intention to deploy their taser but instead shot Mr Wright with a single bullet."
"This was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr Wright," Mr Gannon said. "There is nothing I can say to lessen the pain of Mr Wright's family."
Mr Wright's killing sparked protests overnight in Brooklyn Center and the looting of a shopping mall, and authorities in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs including Brooklyn Center announced a curfew from 7:00 pm Monday until 6:00 am Tuesday.
In the body cam footage, police officers are seen pulling Mr Wright out of his car after stopping him for a traffic violation and discovering he had an outstanding warrant.
When officers attempt to handcuff Mr Wright, he scuffles with them and gets back in the car. A female police officer shouts, "I'll tase you" and then "Taser! Taser! Taser!" - standard police procedure before an officer fires one of the stun guns.
"Holy shit, I shot him," the officer says as Mr Wright, fatally wounded, drives off. He crashed his car a few blocks away.
How the officer mistook her gun for a taser was unclear.
Mr Gannon said police are trained to place handguns "on our dominant side, and our taser on our weak side."
People gather holding signs and flags to protest the death of Daunte Wright Source: AFP
Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) identified the officer late Monday as Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the police force.
President Joe Biden called the killing "tragic," but warned against any potential violent unrest.
"I think we have to wait and see what the investigation shows," Mr Biden said.
"In the meantime, I want to make it clear again: there is absolutely no justification, none, for looting," he added. "Peaceful protests - understandable."
The protests overnight prompted the defense attorney for former officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing murder and manslaughter charges for George Floyd's death, to ask the judge presiding over the high-profile case to sequester the jury.
Judge Peter Cahill refused, stating "this is a totally different case."
'Tragic events'
Mr Chauvin is facing murder and manslaughter charges for his role in Mr Floyd's death on 25 May, 2020, which occurred during his arrest for allegedly passing a fake $20 bill.
The 45-year-old Mr Chauvin, who is white, was seen in a video taken by a bystander kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as the handcuffed 46-year-old black man complained repeatedly that he could not breathe.
The video touched off protests against racial injustice and police brutality in the United States and around the world.
Brooklyn Center, where Mr Wright was shot, is a northwest suburb of Minneapolis located not far from the heavily guarded Hennepin County Government Center where Mr Chauvin is on trial.
Officers fired tear gas and flash bangs to disperse a crowd of hundreds who gathered outside a police station in Brooklyn Center after Mr Wright was shot. National Guard troops were deployed.
"We are in pain right now, and we recognise that this couldn't have happened at a worse time," Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said.
The Minnesota Twins announced they were postponing their Monday baseball game against the Boston Red Sox "out of respect for the tragic events that occurred yesterday in Brooklyn Center."
People raise their fists at the start of curfew to protest the death of Daunte Wright Source: AFP
The US professional basketball and hockey leagues also postponed Monday games involving Minnesota teams.
Prosecutors are seeking to prove Mr Floyd's death was due to asphyxiation by the officers conducting the arrest and have called several medical experts to bolster their case.
Vigil held
On Monday evening, hundreds gathered at a vigil to express despair.
"We hope for change, but realistically our expectations are different," said Butchy Austin, 37, a corporate sales worker who has become a social activist since the killing of Mr Floyd.
"Frankly, being a person of color is tiring. We want to know that we can be safe."
"It is a systematic problem, and the fight has to be to completely rebuild the system to get equality for all."
Mr Austin had helped transport a memorial sculpture of a clenched fist from the site where Mr Floyd was killed to where Mr Wright died.
"I have come to show my respect for the family in a respectful, peaceful way," said Mabel Fall, a nurse at the Abbott Northwestern hospital in Minneapolis.
"We don't want any violence to take away from the family's grief.
People gather around a sculpture of a raised fist during a vigil for Daunte Wright Source: Getty Images North America
"We may not yet know all the facts, but we know that another man has died."
Luann Yerks, 68, a retired white woman who drove across the city to attend the vigil, said: "These deaths have been so traumatic for Minneapolis and of course the Black community.
"These types of deaths are not new. They have been happening all along, but many people didn't believe how police treated black people.
"More of the country is becoming aware as it is all on video now."
