Minneapolis, MN — On Sunday, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was unjustly killed by the police in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minnesota that is just ten miles from where Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder of George Floyd. 350.org joins communities nationwide in expressing sadness and outrage at yet another Black life taken by murderous police conduct.
With the national guard deployed in Minnesota and police presence increasing, we condemn the criminalization of protest and stand with communities demanding systemic change. As a global organization working to stop the climate crisis, we know that there is no climate justice without racial justice. 350.org stands in solidarity with all demanding accountability for the murders of Daunte Wright, George Floyd, and all victims of police violence. We stand with the Movement for Black Lives and Black Visions in the demand to defund the police.
Sam Grant, Executive Director of 350 Minnesota made the following statement:
“The killing of Daunte Wright by police yesterday is yet another vicious example of soul sickening anti-black violence and the disregard for Black life, which remains an accepted norm in American society. We mourn with Daunte’s family, and all families for whom this moment calls up our own experiences of loss due to anti-black violence. How long must Black people endure police brutality and street executions conducted by those sworn to protect? How long must we cry into the wind, pleading for change to come? From Philando Castile to George Floyd to Daunte Wright and countless others here in Minnesota, this is not an accident or an aberration.
“As climate justice advocates it is our duty to stand up against all injustice, call out white supremacy and demand an end to systemic violence against Black communities. Our very communities facing racist violence and over policing are also overrun by fossil fuel extraction, pollution and environmental racism. This is a white supremacist system acting by design, and it has to stop. As we fight for climate integrity, we demand an urgent end to the use of police as a resource for the control and destruction of Black lives.”
Cherrel Brown, U.S Field Manager at 350.org made the following statement:
“The killing of Daunte Wright, during the trial of officer Derek Chauvin, reaffirms that reform and indictments aren’t enough. There is no justice for the lives already lost, just a mandate that we prevent it from happening again. The only way forward is abolition. We start not by asking what will replace the police but what actually keeps us safe. We have to move from the paradigm of a few feeling safe at the risk of losing so many others. What works for all of us? It isn’t the police.
“These demands are deeply interconnected with the fight for climate justice, which must necessarily include challenging the systems of white supremacy that destroy Black Lives. There is no just recovery from the climate crisis without addressing systemic extraction, harm, and violence towards Black communities.”
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Press Contact: Thanu Yakupitiyage, [email protected]