Thousands of students from dozens of Minnesota schools walked out of classes Monday, demanding justice for George Floyd — and for Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man shot dead by a white police officer during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center on April 11. The city’s mayor, Mike Elliott, a Black man who was born in Liberia, told CNN Monday, “It’s not safe to drive in Minnesota while you’re Black.”
Mayor Mike Elliott: “And if we see police behind us, we’re afraid. You know, we’re trembling. And that is a kind of terror that no citizen of the United States should ever have to face. It’s constant. It’s ever-present.”
Ahead of the verdict, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called up 3,000 members of the National Guard, along with 1,100 police officers from around the state. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson joined protests outside the courthouse on Monday.
Rev. Jesse Jackson: “Even if we win, it’s relief, not victory. They’re still killing our people. Stop the violence. Save the children. Stop the violence. Save the children.”