As the nation struggles to digest yet another slaying of an unarmed Black man, a woman is giving voice to the despair and anger we are all grappling with right now. Following the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old father who was shot and killed in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, his aunt, Naisha Wright spoke to the media at a press conference and delivered a powerhouse speech that expressed her pain.
In her gut-wrenching address, Naisha said that the death of her nephew was no accident and that the police officer, Kim Potter, who shot him made a conscious decision not a mistake as the officer has claimed.
Naisha Wright, Daunte Wright’s Aunt Delivered a Powerful Speech That Expressed Her Grief and Anger Following the Death of Her Nephew.
“They murdered my nephew,” Naisha said as she fought back tears. “She killed my nephew. Every pistol and every taser has a safety on it. She saw that. She had to release that.”
As many of us have done now, Naisha saw the bodycam footage released by police that captured the slaying of Daunte Wright and she wonders why Potter would fire a gun at her unarmed relative.
“I watched that video like everybody else watched that video. That woman held that gun out in front of her for a long damn time. A long damn time,” she told the crowd that gathered for the remarks.
With so many of the victims who perished at the hands of police officers, their names become reduced to a mere hashtag while the fullness of the lives they lived are not properly remembered. Naisha spoke to the humanity, family, and love of which Daunte was a product.
“My nephew was 20 years old. 20 years old,” Wright explained. “I don’t care what nobody got to say about him. He was loved. He was ours. He came from us. My brother and my sister are hurt. This is no broken home. This is no broken home. This is 23 years of love. 23. My nephew was 20. Did y’all not see my little great-nephew? Did y’all not see that beautiful baby? He is fatherless. Not over a mistake. Over murder. That’s murder.”
Naisha went on to describe a heartbreaking connection that she had learned after her nephew’s death. Daunte’s girlfriend was a former teacher of George Floyd, the man killed in May of 2020, after a police officer who is currently on trial for his death, kneeled on his neck as he struggled to survive.
“I wear this shirt,” Naisha said of the t-shirt she wore with George Floyd’s face imprinted on it. “And the craziest thing is to find out today that my family has connections to this man and this family.”
“His girlfriend was a teacher for my nephew,” she explained. “My nephew was a lovable young man. His smile. Lord, the most beautiful smile. Y’all took that. My nephew’s blood is on y’all hands. I have never seen my brother hurt like this before. Never. To hear my brother and to see my sister’s pain. Hold her higher than accountable. You train people on this stuff. 26 years. 26 years. Y’all took him. She needs to pay.”
Here’s more from the mother: pic.twitter.com/L1rtYSiMUP
— Kim Hyatt (@kimvhyatt) April 11, 2021
The victim’s mother, Katie Wright, also recollected the devastating moment she learned that her son had been killed. Daunte FaceTimed her, which is when she saw his body slumped over in the driver’s seat.
“Mom, I’m getting pulled over,” the mother said her son told her, “[and] they’re asking about insurance.” Before Katie could reply, she heard the situation escalating quickly.
“I just want people to know that if you get pulled over, make sure you put your hands up and don’t make any sudden moves, and don’t have air fresheners in your car because that’s why he got pulled over,” Wright shared with a CBS affiliate.
“And he was only 20 years old and he didn’t deserve to be shot and killed like this,” Wright stated. “And I don’t want all of this, all of this. I just want my baby home. That’s all I want is I want him to be home. I don’t want everybody out here chanting and screaming, yelling, I just want him home, that’s it.”
As this tragedy has been fully absorbed by the public, new calls for policing reform have followed. Protests across the country, with the epicenter being a police station in Brooklyn Center, continue to escalate. We hope for the peace and decency that Daunte Wright was not afforded.