And the world over. And while we await Additional Information from the bca, which is leading this investigation, we continue to support members of our community as they gather peacefully amid our calls for transparency and accountability. Let me be clear. We will get to the bottom of this. We will do all that is within our power to make sure that justice is done for dante wright. Were going to continue to meet with Community Leaders and to hear their voices. In fact, we did that this morning. The chief and city council members. And other elected officials from the state and city staff, city manager, we had a meeting earlier with the community to be able to hear their voices in this time. And were also going to have continue to conduct press conferences and share information with the public. As i stated we do plan to show the body camera footage. Were going to conduct a Community PressConference Following this as well. So that we can talk directly with leaders of our community and organizations and share this information with them as well. Were going to also be providing some crisis counseling and Mental Health resources to all of our Community Members who may need and desire such services. In our collective our collective community is grieving every single life, every member of our community is important to us, and so the events, you know like yesterday, are tragic. And, you know, they take each and every one of us, they take a part of us as we experience these traumatic events. Just being exposed to it. Im sure youre all feeling the aftermath of the weightiness of what were all feeling collectively. So i am going to invite chief tim gannon to come up and hes going to provide you a briefing about the details of what transpired yesterday. And then well stand for questions. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is tim gannon, its gannon, im the chief in Brooklyn Center, ive been chief for five years and a Police Officer in the city for 27. Today i will be releasing the body worn footage worn by the officer involved in the fatal officerinvolved shooting that happened sunday afternoon. I have watched the video myself. And there is nothing i can say to lessen the pain of mr. Wrights family. Friends, loved ones, for that feeling of loss that they must have. That pain is shared by the community, and also all those involved in the incident. What i can do is convey my deepest sympathies to the Wright Family and be transparent with the information im aware of at this time. That will include showing a video portion from the point of deadly force used by the officer as well as the officers Immediate Reaction after the use of deadly force. I caution everybody as you watch this that this will be graphic. And unedited. Could i have that video start, please . If someone could turn the lights off. Just a moment here. Okay. It should be on both screens. Thank you , sir. Do me a favor and hes got a warrant. Dont do it. Holy thats my child. Yes. Can you turn the lights back on, please . Oh, my god. Were not going to terminate this officer . As you can hear, the officer while struggling with mr. Wright shouts taser, taser several times. Thats part of the Officers Training prior to drawing a taser, which is a less lethal device, that is done to make her partners aware that a taser during this the officer drew their handgun instead of their taser. For informational purposes we train with our handguns on our dominant side, and our taser on our weak side. If youre righthanded you carry your firearm on your right side and your carry your taser on the left. This is done purposefully, and its trained. As i watch the video and listen to the officers commands it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their taser but instead shot mr. Wright with a single bullet, this appears to me, from what i viewed, and the officers reaction in distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge, that resulted in a tragic death of mr. Wright. I have asked the bca to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting and death, once they are completed i expect they will submit their findings independent of me to the appropriate authorities, the appropriate attorneys that will look and review this case. Im also stressing that i do hope for the community to be patient and allow this investigation, criminal investigation, to be completed. As thoroughly as possible. I believe mr. Wright deserves this, as do all involved. The officer is currently on administrative leave. Make a short comment about what happened last night to our community, a community that ive been a part of for 27 years. Ive seen some of the worst damage to this city ive ever seen in those years. Again, peaceful protesting, expressing yourself, we fully support that. But the ravaging of our businesses, the looting of our stores, the destruction to our pharmacies, we cannot tolerate that. Im hoping that the community will have this level of transparency, and know that this is being investigated by the correct authorities, which is the bca, unfortunately theyre not here today. But they are handling the investigation, and i have very Little Information besides what ive just given to you because they are handling that investigation. Mr. Mayor, do you have any comments that you want to make . All right, so were going to open it up for questions but i just want to reiterate that, you know, obviously this is deeply tragic. And were going to do everything that we can to ensure justice is done, to ensure that our communities are made whole. And with respect to the events last night, obviously there were folks in the community who were grieving, who showed up initially at the location where dante wright was killed and were gathering. And obviously later on as the night went on and unfolded there were a series of events that led to an escalation in the protest later on into the evening. Later on i did issue a curfew, which was in place until 6 00 a. M. This morning. To ensure that were taking steps to keep the community safe. We do want to emphasize that we believe strongly in peoples rights to gather and to express their grievance and to protest. That is a fundamental american right and were going to protect that right. And at the same time were going to also work to protect the safety of our community. And so well now open it up for questions. Is it going to be sent over to the Hennepin CountyAttorneys Office for possible charges . Chief. Its far too early to know which authority is going to be prosecuting, if there is a prosecution. I dont know how thats going to play out. Unfortunately the bca normally is present here during these types of conferences but what ive understood is the releasing of video this early in a situation is not something that they condone. They leave it up to me to do that. As i decided to do that, theyre not part of this conversation. Theyre not part of this press conference at this time. Why did you decide to do this today . I felt the community needed to know what happened. They needed to see it. I needed to be transparent. And i want to be forthright. Due respect to dante as well. Chief, can you talk about what led to the traffic stop . Dante wrights mother told reporters he had a air freshener on his rearview mirror. From what i understood from the Public Safety briefing there was an expired registration on the vehicle. The tabs were expired. Upon arrival when the officer made contact, at that time when he walked up to the car he discovered there was a hanging item from the rearview mirror. So there was a contact that the officer went up there initially for, obtained his id, or his name, he walked back to his car and at that time he ran his name and he found out that he had a warrant. Thats why they removed him from the car and they were making custodial arrest. Can you tell us more about the warrants. I have very Little Information on the warrant other than it was a gross misdemeanor warrant. Dantes tells us his brother didnt know he had a warrant for his arrest and recently missed a meeting with his probation officer. That i dont know. So theres a perception, i think in the u. S. And around the world, that had dante wright been my color this wouldnt have happened to him. Why is it that Police Officers in the United States keep killing young black men and young black women far, far, far higher rate than they do white . I dont have an answer to that question. Because the black man is real here in the state of minnesota. I can answer that question. Was there a gun found in the car . There is no gun that i was made aware of. I did not search the car but i have not been made aware of a gun in the vehicle . The officer, is she under any type of there has been mental evaluation. There has been a fair amount of social chatter in media which i dont normally comment on but there was some comments in social media she had committed suicide. That is not true. That is not true. To the best of my knowledge shes being taken care of right now. What can you tell us about this officer and how long shes been with the department . At this point in time i dont have that i will not release that information. That should be released shortly. The bca has a system in place where theyll be releasing the names of all parties in involved and all their Training Records and all that information as far as tenure and seniority, that will be released shortly. Do you plan to step down as people call for your resignation after the actions outside of this Police Department last night . At this point i do not. Chief, what was happening . What are we seeing in the video prior to the shot, you described the taser and the weapon, what was happening there . Im not in the mind of the officer. I can only see what youre all seeing. I can couple that with some of the training that much of the training that ive received. And thats why im believing it to be an accidental discharge. But prior to that there was some sort of activity going on. Was when they were trying to take him into custody. It appeared to me from the video that the individual was trying to get back into his car to leave. Chief, how often do officers go through firearm training to try and make prevent Something Like that happening where you dont make that kind of mistake, annual training or how does that work . We have numerous trainings throughout the year, we dont lump it all into one group. Numerous training, tactical training, fire arms training, taser deployments. We have pretty thorough taser requalifications. On a yearly basis, but then we also do a number of scenarios and roll playing exercises as well. I can take one more question, please. Were in the midst of a pandemic, why was a priority to pull someone over for expired tags . I dont know if that was a priority. But it was a violation that the officer observed and initiated a traffic stop. Chief, are you aware theres a significant delay in getting tabs and things of this nature from the dmv so even people who have purchased tabs are unable to get them because theres a two to three month backlog, are you aware of that and is your staff also aware of that and have you made any type of recommendations to your staff to be mindful that were in the middle of a pandemic, and dont pull people over for tabs, particularly because there is a significant delay in getting those tabs from the department of motor vehicles, are you aware of that . I am aware of that. Is your staff aware. Yes, they are. That was the last question, im sorry. Mr. Mayor, if i can ask you, in that video, the female officer cl clearly made a fatal mistake. Should she lose her job since its clear she killed one. Let me be very clear, my position is that we cannot afford to make mistakes that lead to the loss of life of other people in our profession. And so i do fully support releasing the officer of her duties. Mr. Mayor, you just said yourself, the whole woorld is watching the twin cities right now. Why werent Police Forces looking out for, you know, just looking out about what they were doing, why werent they taking greater precautions when they got involved in incidents like this, do you have any answer to that . You know, i dont have an answer. I have not spoken with the officers involved, myself. You know, at this point the bca is the one thats in contact with those officers, and, in fact, is the only one thats allowed to be in contact with those officers. Mr. Mayor, clearly because you answered the question directly, youve given some thought to this idea of releasing the officer. With that said, what is the process, can he be released immediately, does she have to go through an appeals process . How does that work . Under our form of government the city manager whos here, you can come up, curt, he ultimately actually is has control over the Police Department, and not the mayor. And over the chief. So you can comment on that, the city council also, you know, has ultimate authority over what happens in the city collectively. So the city council can take action in this regard as well. Go ahead, sir. Say and spell your first and last anytime. Curt boganey. In response to the question about termination, all employees working for the city of Brooklyn Center are entitled to due process with respect to is discipline. This employee will receive due process and thats really all that i can say today. Do you support the termination of an officer like this who has made the type of mistake that has cost a resident of yours life, do you support the termination of this type of officer and what message are we sending in Brooklyn Center to the rest of the world about the valuation of black life, do you support the termination of this type of an officer . I understand and appreciate the comment that you made and why you said it, if i were to answer that question i would be contradicting what i said a moment ago. Which is to say that all employees are entitled to due process. And after that due process, discipline will be determined. If i were to say anything else, i would actually be contradicting the idea of due process. One final question. Whats your expectation for how a significantly white police force in Brooklyn Center treats the black and brown members of this community, what expectation have you communicated down to the chief, and to the officers under him, for how they are to interface with the vast majority, because the vast majority of this population is black and brown, how have you communicated to them to interface and interact with people who look like me . Absolutely ive communicated that to the chief, and i do believe that the chief concurs with the notion that every resident of Brooklyn Center must be treated fairly, must be treated equitably. The city council has been clear in its expectations about fairness and equity. We are implementing this year an office of antiracism principles and practices, we are hiring an equity officer in the next several weeks. The city council has provided specific direction about accountability for the Police Department and transparency for the Police Department. Weve been providing reports to the city. Talk to us about that accountability. Were providing reports to the city council about officer discipline, about information on stops, of black and brown people, people of color in the city of Brooklyn Center. Were developing task forces to assess if any of our policies or practices lead to disproportionate inequitable results and our objective for doing that analysis is to eliminate any inequity that occurs as a result of our practices and our policies and that has been communicated to the chief and to the Police Officers, or the city of Brooklyn Center. Racial profiling that happened in this situation, we are standing in solidarity and calling for the firing of this officer. You have talked about her having due process. Although Daunte Wright did not get due process in that situation. She needs to be fired immediately to send a message that this type of behavior will not be condoned within the city of Brooklyn Center. Thank you, i appreciate those comments. Should an officer who cant tell the difference between a taser and a handgun, should they go out in a vehicle with both items in their car . It wouldnt be appropriate for me to respond to that . Why would it not be appropriate, sir . I cant make that judgment. As a supervisor of the police force will you using tear gas on our youth who were protesting yesterday. And rubber bullets. I was not. Mr. City manager and mr. Mayor, when i asked that question about the firing of the Police Officer, the police chief left. What is that an indication of . Is he dealing with perhaps something more important or is that some type of silent protest because he left immediately. Immediately. Immediately. I cant speculate. Mr. Mayor, do you have a comment . I do not know why the excuse me. Does it bother you, without knowing why, that he just walked out . I do not know why the chief left. You know, i can only speculate as to why he left, you know, at the time that he did. What would your speculation be . I dont have any speculation. I mean, its possible that, you know, the chief, you know, takes the position similar to the city manager that there needs to be some kind of a process or you know, i dont know. I would only what was the conversation between you and the chief . What was that conversation between you and the chief . When you shared with the chief that youd like to see this officer terminated . He didnt tell us anything about the officer. How long shes been with the force. Her name. Where she trained. These are questions the public deserves to know. Certainly. You know, so those conversations, im not are privileged conversations so i cant reveal that right now. But we should be able to provide the details around officer