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Chaos in Minneapolis again as another black man shot dead by police

Minneapolis plunged into chaos on Monday once again after the killing of another black man by the police. Tear gas has been fired and a curfew imposed amid angry protests in the city of Brooklyn Center, just north of Minneapolis.

The man has been identified by relatives as 20-year-old Daunte Wright.

Brooklyn Center’s mayor issued a curfew order till 6am local time and told the people to “be safe, go home”.

Tensions in Minneapolis are high as the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin accused of killing black man George Floyd continuing.

The courtroom is just 16 kilometers from the latest unrest.

Hundreds of people gathered late on Sunday outside the police headquarters in Brooklyn Center.

Eye witnesses said police fired rubber bullets, hitting at least two in the crowd and leaving at least one man bleeding from the head.

Tensions rose when protesters pelted stones at police. Protesters wrote with chalk on pavements and lit candles, but police later ordered the them to disperse and fired tear gas and stun grenades.

Local media reported some looting taking place in a number of areas and Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott announced on Twitter he was issuing a curfew.

In an early-morning video post on the death of Daunte Wright, Mayor Elliott said “our hearts are with his family” and pledged “we are going to make sure that everything is done in our power to ensure justice”.

In a statement, the Brooklyn Center Police Department said officers had pulled a man over for a traffic violation on Sunday afternoon and determined that he had an outstanding arrest warrant.

They said that when police tried to arrest him, he re-entered the vehicle.

An officer then shot him, who drove on for several blocks before he crashed into another vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the officers involved were wearing body cameras, and dash cameras had also been activated.

Wright’s mother, Katie, said her son had called her during the traffic stop and he said he had been pulled over because of “air fresheners hanging from his rear-view mirror”. She said she then heard scuffling and the phone line was cut.

“A minute later, I called and his girlfriend answered, who was the passenger in the car, and said that he’d been shot… and my son was laying there lifeless.”

She said her son’s body had been left on the ground by officers, adding: “Nobody will tell us anything. Nobody will talk to us… I said please take my son off the ground,” a local newspaper reported.

Mayor Elliott said the shooting was “tragic” and Governor Waltz said that “Our state mourns another life of a black man taken by law enforcement.”

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