Transcripts For MSNBCW MTP Daily 20210412

Policeinvolved shooting that led to the killing of donte wright, a 20yearold young africanamerican male. My heart goes out to dontes family and to all those impacted by this tragedy in our community and the world over. 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 donte wright. We are 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 hear their voices in this time. We are 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 Press Conference Following this as well so that we can talk directly with leaders of our community and organizations to share this information with them as well. We are going to be providing some crisis counseling and Mental Health resources to all of our Community Members who may need and desire such services. Our collective community is grieving every single life, every member of our community is important to us. The events like yesterday are tragic. They take each and every one of you they take a part of us as we experience these traumatic events. Just being exposed to it, im sure you are all feeling the aftermath of the weightiness of what were all feeling collectively. So i am going to invite the chief to come up. He is going to provide you a briefing about the details of what transpired yesterday. Then we will stand for questions. Good afternoon. My name is tim gannon. Im the chief of police here in Brooklyn Center. I have been the chief for approximately five years. Ive been a Police Officer in the city for 27. Today i will be releasing the bodyworn footage worn by the officer involved in the fatal officerinvolved shooting that happened sunday afternoon. I have watched the video myself. Theres nothing i can say to lessen the pain of mr. Wrights family. Friends, loved ones, for that feeling of loss they must have. That pain is shared by the community and also all of 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. Can i have that video start, please . Someone turn the lights off. Just a moment. Should be on both screens. Welcome to meet the press daily. Im kasie hunt in for chuck todd. We are monitoring this press conference. Coming out of minnesota there. They are showing body cam video to reporters there after the Fatal Shooting policeinvolved shooting of a young black man yesterday. We are not showing you the video just because we have not seen it. You heard that very graphic warning there from the police chief tim gannon. I want to bring in the reverend al sharpton to talk to us about this. This is yet another difficult day. It comes, of course, against the backdrop of the Derek Chauvin trial which we have been watching all morning. I think you could tell we, of course, want to make sure we let our audience know, we have yet to see what the public will soon know in terms of the body camera footage. You could tell from the emotion in the mayors voice and the Police Chiefs voice that they were clearly disturbed by what they had seen. Whats your reaction to what we know about this incident so far . Well, my reaction is that clearly if what we have been told is that it was a traffic stop. Then there was some report of that there had been a war rent warrant out for the young man. Why would you use deadly force even if it was a warrant, no matter what the warrant was for . I talked with the father of the young man a couple of hours ago. I did not he did not have a lot of detail. Certainly, he was aggrieved. I pledged to find justice in whatever it is that transpired. Let me pause you right there. I want to hear more about that. We will listen to the press conference. It is my belief the officer had the intention to deploy the taser but instead shot mr. Wright with a single bullet. This appears to me from what i viewed and the officers reaction and 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 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 i have been a part of for 27 years. I have seen some of the worst damage to this city i have ever seen in those years. Again, peaceful protesting, expressing yourself, we fully support that. The ravaging of our businesses, looting of our stores, the destruction to our pharmacies, we cannot tolerate that. Im hoping 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. They are handling the investigation. I have very Little Information besides what i have given to you because they are handling that investigation. Mr. Mayor, do you have any comments you want to make . Were going to open it up for questions. I want to reiterate that, obviously, this is deeply tragic. Were going to do everything we can to ensure justice is done, to ensure that our communities are made whole. 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 donte wright was killed and were gathering. Obviously, later on as the night went on and unfolded, there were a series of events that led to an escalation in the protests 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 we 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 say fundamental american right. Were going to protect that right. At the same time, we are going to also work to protect the safety of our community. We will now open it up for questions. Is it going to be sent to the Hennepin County for possible charges . Its too early to know which authority is going to be prosecuting, if theres prosecution. I dont know how that will play out. The bca normally isnt present here during these conferences. What i have understood is the releasing of video this early in a situation is not something they condone. They leave it up to me to do that. I decided to do that. They are not part of the conversation, part of the press conference at this time. Why did you decide to do this . I felt the community needed to know what happened. They needed to see it. I needed to be transparent. I want to be forthright. Due respect to daunte as well. Can you talk about what led to the traffic stop . The mother told reporters he had an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. From what i understood, there was an expired registration on the vehicle. Upon arrival, when the officer made contact, i think at that time when he walked up to the car, he discovered there was a hanging item from the rearview mirror. There was contact that the officer went up there initially for. Obtained his i. D. Or his name. He walked back to his car. At that time he ran his name and he found out he had a warrant. Thats why they were making custodial arrest. You can tell us about the warrant . I have Little Information other than it was gross misdemeanor warrant. His brother tells us he didnt know he had a warrant for his arrest and missed a meeting with his probation officer. That i dont know. Theres a perception that had he been my color, this wouldnt have happened. Why is it Police Officers in the United States keep killing young black men or women far, far, far higher rate than they do white people . I dont have an answer to that question. Was there a gun found in the car . Theres 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 are there any type of there has been mental evaluation . There has been a fair amount of social chatter which i dont normally comment on. There was comments she 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 the officer, how long shes been with the department . At this point in time, i dont have that. I will not release that. That should be released shortly. I believe the bca has a system where they will release the names of all parties involved and the Training Records and that information. Do you plan to step down if people call for your resignation after the actions outside of this Police Department last night . At this point, i do not. What was happening . What are we seeing in the video prior to the shot . You described the taser. What was happening . Im not in the mind of the officer. I can only see what you are all seeing. I can couple that with some of the training that much of the training i received. Thats why i am leaving it to be an accidental discharge. Prior to that, there was some activity going on. 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. How often do officers [ inaudible ] is it annual training . We have numerous training throughout the year. We dont try to lump it in one group. Theres numerous trainings where we do firearms training, taser deployment. We have pretty thorough taser requalifications on a yearly basis. We also do a number of scenarios in role playing exercises as well. I can take one more question. Why was it a priority to pull someone over for expired tags . I dont know that was a priority. It was a violation that the officer observed and initiated a traffic stop. Are you aware theres a significant delay in getting things of this nature from the dmv, so even people who purchased tabs are unable to get them because theres a backlog . Are you aware of that and is your staff aware of that . Have you made any type of recommendations to your staff to be mindful that we are in 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 of that . Yes, they are. That was the last question. Im sorry. Mr. Mayor, can i ask you, in that video, a female officer clearly made a fatal mistake. She did the wrong thing. We understand shes going to be receiving some type of counseling. 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. I do fully support releasing the officer of her duties. I do. You said the world is watching right now. Why werent Police Forces looking out for just looking out about what [ inaudible ] why werent they taking greater precautions when they got involved . Do you have any answer for that . I dont have an answer. I have not spoken with the officers involved myself. At this point, the bca is the one thats in contact with those officers. In fact, is the only one allowed to be in contact with the officers. Because you answered the question directly, you have given some thought to releasing the officer. Whats the process . Can she be released immediately . Does she have to go through an appeals process . How does that work . Under our form of government, the city manager who is here you can come up, kurt. He ultimately actually has control over the Police Department and not the mayor. Over the chief. You can comment on that. City council has ultimate authority over what happens. The city council can take action in this regard as well. Go ahead. Thank you. My name is kurt 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 discipline. This employee will receive due process. 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 . What message are we sending here 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 . Understand and appreciate the comment 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. 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. Whats your expectation for how a significantly white police force in Brooklyn Center treats the black and brown members of the 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 you have communicated to them to interface and interact with people who look like me . Absolutely i have communicated that to the chief. I do believe that the chief concurs with the notion that every resident of Brooklyn Center must be treated fairly, must be treated equitable. The city council has been clear in its expectations about fairness and equity. We are implementing this year an office of antiracism practices. We are hiring an equity officer in the next several weeks. The city council provided specific direction about accountability for the Police Department and transparency for the Police Department. We have been providing reports to the city. Talk to us about accountability. We are providing reports about officer discipline, information on stops of black and brown people, people of color in the city of Brooklyn Center. We are developing task forces to assess if any of our policies or if any of our practices lead to disproportionate inequitable results. Our objective is to eliminate any inequity that occurs as a result of our practices and our policies. That has been communicated to the chief and to the Police Officers of the city of Brooklyn Center. We are standing in solidarity and calling for the firing of this officer. We 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. [ inaudible ] it wont be appropriate to respond to that. Why would it not be appropriate . I cant make that judgment. As the supervior of the police force, were you part of the decision to use tear gas on our youth protesting yesterday . And rubber bullets. I was not. Mr. Mayor and city manager, when i asked the question about the firing of the Police Officer, the police chief left. What is that an indication of . Is he dealing with something perhaps more important . Is that some type of silent protest . He left immediately. I cant speculate. Mr. Mayor, do you have a comment . I do not know why the does that bother you without knowing why he just walked out . I do not know why the chief left. I can only speculate as to why he left at the time that he did. Does it bother you . What would your speculation be . I dont have any speculation. Its possible that the chief takes the position perhaps similar to the city manager that there needs to be some kind of a process or 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 you would like to see this officer terminated. He didnt tell us anything about the officer, how long shes been on the force, her name, where she trained. These are questions the public deserves to know. Certainly. Those conversations im not are privileged, i cant reveal that right now. We should be able to provide the details around the officer and her training and those types of details. Let me give me a second. I will see if is the chief engaged currently at the moment in addressing some Public Safety concerns or some other matters . Is there any reason why we cant have him answer some more questions around folks are asking about the Officers Training and whatnot. How long shes been on the force. So if the chief can walk out in the midst of a so i he needs to be fired, too. Just to be clear, we are checking right now with the chief to see if he will come back and stand for more questions. Whats the protocol for when theres protesters in city of Brooklyn Center and outside of police the Police Office . What is the normal protocol . What is the process for who decides and how does that decision happen . Where are those protocols and that process . I will have the city manager and the chief speak on that. I will speak first. My role becomes active the moment that i declare a state of emergency. If the city council acts to give the mayor authority over the police or under the circumstances that theres a declaration of martial law. My role really is one of influence in those situations. I cannot give commands to the department. I cannot instruct the police chief to take certain actions or not to take certain actions. The person who can do that is the city manager. In terms of what the protocols are for handling protests, i imagine the chief will come back to join us and speak on that shortly. If you have any comments on that. Could you release the name of the officer who was involved in the shooting . Its public data. Its my understanding that that name will be released very shortly. Its my understanding that at this point, the bca who is doing the investigation is not the bca is not required to conduct the investigation. You have authority over what happens and what information is released. Just as the chief released the body camera footage, we are expecting the name of the officer to be released. Bca has no control over that. Let me say this. I will let the chief address that particular question as well. I will tell you this. We have every intent to release that information as quickly as possible. I will leave it at that. Theres no reason or desire to withhold that information any longer than is necessary. Can you instruct the chief to release her name . I wont do that at this moment, at this place. Why . It would be inappropriate. Thats not inappropriate. What was inappropriate was killing Daunte Wright under those circumstances. You are working harder to protect a killer cop than a victim of police murder. Im back. Im sorry. I left im used to doing the handoff with the bca. I apologize. Normally bca steps in and they talk about the investigation. Thats what im im used to. I apologize for that. Im back here now. I can answer some more questions. Please realize in an officerinvolved shooting is i have no contact with that investigation. I dont want to taint that investigation. People can say they scoff at that. I looked at this video, which is unprecedented. I dont know of any chief thats done that often or looked at the video in advance. Sometimes you cant unwatch a video. What im saying is i have limited information. Im not trying to be disingenuous. Im trying to stay away from the investigation. I wish bca was here. They would tell you theres not much they can do because its early in the investigation. One question at a time. Yes, sir. May i ask you as i asked the mayor, do you believe the officer who fired this fatal shot i understand theres due process. But ultimately, she scott and she shot and killed a 20yearold man. Mate err indicat. The officer is afforded due process. She has the right to be heard. To give her statement. She has a right to tell what she felt, what she thought. Not what i thought. Not what i saw. What she thought and what she that may have an impact. Shes on administrative timeout. She will not be returning to duty until this investigation has run its course. For all intents and purposes, i think we can look at the video and ascertain whether or not she will be returning. This is not the first time this happened in Brooklyn Center. Two years ago we had an officerinvolved shooting where a young man lost his life. You understand the public do not trust you and your department right now. What we are asking you are not giving to us. You have a process right now. We really do want the information of the officer involved in the shooting. We do have a process in place. Thats leaning on the bca to do their investigation. Every shooting that i have seen, every shooting that i have witnessed thats a choice. Has been different. Every circumstance is different around every shooting. Its tragic every time. The loss of life is obviously tragic. There are different circumstances around every situation. In this particular situation, it was very important for me to get that video out as quickly as possible. Thats what i did. I lived in minnesota seven years, worked here. Can you tell us a little bit about how long the officer was on the force here in Brooklyn Center . Was she around six years ago . The information on the officer shes a senior officer. Thats the extent i can do. A very senior officer. I do believe that the bca will be releasing all the information, Training Records, everything they have, they will be releasing that. Thats public data. That will come out shortly. What is the normal protocol and process for response to protesters . Was that protocol and process followed last night . There was strict adherence to the policy of working into the protest. When it turns into a riot, there were warnings to disburse because it was unlawful. It was declared at least five times while i was there. Plenty of time was given to disburse and it was not. Was it your decision to release tear gas and to shoot fire rubber bullets athe at the protesters . Im the police chief. Police action is made by me. Does that answer your question . I have question. Shocked to darkness, to see all of the lights, interior and exterior, make the street dark, we were shocked to see that. From my experience i would imagine most other peoples experiences, Law Enforcement would want to have as much light as possible to be able to see what whatever is going on. I was told the moment of lights went down that created a level of mood, a certain age a certain agitation. What was your thinking of turning off the lights . I dont know about the lights on the street. The building lights were turned off because they created back lighting for officers. They became targets. Thats when i turned the lights off. It made them less of targets . They werent backlit. People in front, they couldnt see. If we have lights in front of us, thats what the Police Department would like to have. We like to look forward, not behind us. What im talking about were all around the lights were all around the front part of the building. The police were behind that. It created an entire darkness around it seemed unusual for a station to have all the lights off, including the lights in the streets to create utter darkness. A lot of confusion and a real ominous mood. Its very unusual. I have been to a lot of Police Stations, protests, to a lot of these events. I have never seen the Police Department utterly shut down all of the lights. What was your thinking behind not the backlit lights but all of the lights in the front part of the Police Station to create utter darkness . One final question. What was your decision to issue a disburse order while they were peacefully protesting in front of the station . What led to you to issue a disburse order and on the back end then issue a co2 canister and gas for the crowd . I was front and center at the protest, at the riot. We did not it was a protest. Dont do that. There was no riot. There was. I was we were the officers that were putting themselves in harms way were pelted with frozen cans of pop. They were being pelted with concrete blocks. We had helmets and other protection. An officer was injured. He was transported to the hospital. We had to make decisions. We had to disburse the crowd because we cant allow our officers to be harmed. I answered the question about the lighting. Thats a big deal and i understand that. I thought i explained that. Thats i told you its my decision. Thats why i made that decision. Is there another question . Yes, maam. The room is tense. I can feel it. What is on your heart . He is defensive. Let him answer. Speak to us for real. This is what im here for. Im the leader of this department. They expect me to lead. Create a safe city. Thats what im trying to do. He is not. Thats it. I hope you are not crying. Im emotional. He is being honest. Im trying to be honest. I have a question for you. Yes, sir. When you asked the protesters to take a step back across the street, what was the reasoning for after they went across the street, you shot tear gas grenades and flash bangs where the people were across the street where you had told them to be. The only time that we every situation that we had, we returned fire. When we got pelted with bricks or frozen cans, which we collected, we photographed the evidence, we have the evidence. We can show that to you. Once we got pelted, then we responded in kind. There was a distance there was a distance in everything who had nothing to do with throwing anything. Thats the danger of turning off lights and firing rubber bullets and flash bang grenades at people exercising their right. Its a freedom of speech. Thats the problem. I understand that. Dont you do things differently . Would i do things differently . Absolutely not. We had a situation where we were bringing an arrest team. We were worried. How many people are we going to arrest . When we started to move people hours into the situation do you know how many people we arrested . Two people. If we hadnt done that, if we hadnt moved people along, i dont know what would have happened. I dont know where they would have reformed. The people that left were allowed to leave. We didnt trap them. We didnt make mass arrests. We arrested two people. What are plans for tonight . If its a peaceful protest, if its First Amendment protest, go to it. Whats your definition of a peaceful protest . We dont understand. Not being pelted with bricks, blocks and being targeted. What we saw yesterday were young people up with their hands up. They were being tear gassed. You were talking about your officers being hurt. How many people got hurt . Im going to ask. Are you doing things differently . We will have our officers lined up to protect this building, to protect the city as best we can. Thats what were going to do today. Thats what we do every day. I got one more question. When the officers were firing tear gas and flash bangs, there was an apartment complex with families behind it. Thats where a lot of the flash bangs were going. Had it went into the building and started a fire, it put people at risk. Why . I didnt see any flash bang close to those apartments. I was there. I didnt see anybody 6740. It went over the buildings. We saw that last night. I didnt see that myself. We saw it. Good. Im not discounting you. Why was are there more questions . Why was Daunte Wrights body left in the streets for hours . The due respect for daunte was given to keep the respect of his body, whether that be covered or fenced around, but we needed to have it maintained because we needed the investigation to be complete and thorough. The documentation is not done by us. Its done by bca, which is the entity that investigates these situations. They came out as quickly as they could. We did not want to as people have mentioned, once the officers left the protests and the disturbance went away. We were trying to get our officers out there as soon as possible. Do you understand how dehumanizing that was to have a body in the street for five hour snz. That was a priority to get him removed as soon as possible without disturbing the crime scene so we wouldnt be accused of tampering with the office. Any questions from the media . Thank you for your time. I have a question. Final question. Police chief, we hear you have committed to protecting this building and the city tonight if there are protests. Will you commit to protecting protesters and the people of the city . I am committed to protecting the Peaceful Protesters of the city every day. Not yesterday. Peaceful protesters. It was Peaceful Protesters. They were targeted. Thank you, everybody. To reiterate, my commitment, our commitment as a city and in many ways we need to recommit to that. That is to making sure we are protecting Peaceful Protesters, protecting the rights of people to gather and grieve and give their grievances to the government. We are going to work to continue to protect those rights, protect Peaceful Protesters and to make sure that we are securing the safety of our community. Thank you. Do you understand that when Peaceful Protesters [ inaudible ] absolutely. We have a community [ inaudible ] welcome back to meet the press daily. We have been watching this press conference in Brooklyn Center, minnesota, after the Fatal Shooting by a Police Officer of Daunte Wright, a black man. Back with me reverend sharpton. Im joined by professor gauff. Also with us, shaq brewster, covering this Fatal Shooting and other breaking news from minnesota, the chauvin trial. We have with us chuck rosenberg, former u. S. Attorney. This has been a difficult afternoon, as you heard. The community and members of the press questioning there the mayor of the town as well as the police chief. We have two things we want to underscore. At this press conference, they released body camera footage from the officer one of the officers involved in this incident. The police chief said it was his decision to release this body camera footage. We are going to show you a little bit of it. We want to warn you, its quite graphic. We will show you this and we will show you how the police chief explained what you are able to see in the video. Again, take a look at this. Warning, it is graphic. Ill tase you. [ bleep ]. I just shot him. A very troubling scene there, Daunte Wright, in his car. Here is how the police chief explained what you just saw on that video. Watch. As i watched the video and listened to the officers commands, its my belief the officer had the attention 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 and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge. Rverend sharpton, the police chief saying the officer meant to use their taser, instead used a gun. A devastating mistake. You heard those very tough questions, understandably very tough questions for the police chief here at this press conference. What were your takeaways as you watched that with us . You have to deal with the context of the anger in the community. I have talked to some of the activists on the ground. Theres been a series of Police Shootings over the past several years in Brooklyn Center. Certainly, around minnesota, just ten miles away we are having the trial of Derek Chauvin around the killing of george floyd. In the context of what he is saying that this is an accidental shooting, it raises all kinds of questions about training. It raises all kinds of questions about how do you establish that. It does not mean you could not still be its something thats not only worthy of termination but even criminal exposure because there are letters of the law that even if you, without intent, cause a fatality, you can be prosecuted. Its very early in this to say what will happen. There are all kinds of possibilities. As i said earlier before we heard the press conference, i talked with the father of Daunte Wright, a 20yearold young man killed, that they say they were dealing with a misdemeanor warrant, which means there was no violence that we would assume that was involved. This father, of course, was distraught. I understand the mother and father are talking to attorneys. This all in the backdrop of ten miles away we are hearing the trial of chauvin who no one knows what is going to happen there with a knee on the neck. This climate speaks loudly as to why we need serious legislative Police Reform in this country. Speaking of ten miles away, reverend al, i want to go to Shaquille Brewster who has been covering trial for us in minneapolis and has been covering events surrounding policeinvolved shootings. Shaq, if you could pick up with your reporting where reverend al left off there. What has the mood been like . Obviously, you have been focused on this trial a year ago when we witnessed that tragic death of george floyd. Now here we are again talking about someone just down the road who is dead because of a shooting there. In this particular case, the officer is on leave. The chief faced serious questions about why that officer has not been fired. He insisted thats protocol. You covered quite a bit of this. What did you take away from the press conference we heard . Reporter i think that was one of the more unusual press conferences i have seen. For one, to get the body camera video that quickly, that is unprecedented. Thats something that we have not seen. For a little bit of context i know its a different situation. With George Floyds killing, we didnt see the body camera video, that did not become public until july. So two months after he was actually killed. Its not a pattern. Its not typical to get that body camera video so quickly so members of the community can see that. You saw the tension there at play between the mayor, the police chief, the city manager, between the bureau of criminal apprehension, the same organization that investigated George Floyds death. The state agency that comes into play after a policeinvolved killing. For george floyd, it was not a shooting but it was a policeinvolved killing. They come in and they do the investigation. You saw a very clear hint of frustration from the police chief there, frustrated that they were not coming up and speaking and answering some of the basic questions like the history and background of this officer. Reverend sharpton made the point this is all in the context of the trial thats takes place, the trial that has been a source of concern for so many people. There have been 2,000 National Guard members on standby for the past three, four, maybe five weeks here. Im losing a sense of time here. Since the beginning of jury selection for this trial, theres been 2,000 National Guard members on standby. There was a plan to escalate the mobilization of the National Guard. We know about 500 of them are actually mobilized. Thats up from 100 during the beginning of the testimony that we saw here. Its hard to say how much tension or how much more tension this community can really handle, especially after this police shooting, which, yes, you heard the police chief say, he believes it was an accident. Thats his suspicion based on what he was seeing. For members of the community who have been saying they fear the police, they fear the actions of the minneapolis Police Department and other Police Departments in the area, i dont think that gives them much comfort, frankly, when there are people that are out protesting yesterday who were only nearby because they were there protesting another policeinvolved killing unrelated to george floyd. Its very important context, shaq. Thank you for pointing that out. We can forgive you losing your sense of time. It has been a difficult year for so many Different Reasons and on so many different levels. Professor gauff, you try spend your time trying to understand these incidents and the things we can do to prevent them from happening. You heard angry very understandably very emotional and angry Community Members in the room trying to get answers from the police chief about how this could happen. As shaq pointed out, they are saying this was a mistake, but its when you talk about policing and equity in policing, those mistakes can cost lives. Thats what happened in this particular case. What do you see when you watch this video, when you watch this press watch this press conference and you try to understand that here we are again, talking about this again . Yeah, i mean, it feels like time just keeps repeating itself. Ive been on social, ive been talking to some of my godkids and theyre saying, wait, is this someone else or did someone new die . You saw folks in the audience asking about training, you saw folks in the audience asking about whether or not Law Enforcement knew it was hard to get tags so maybe you shouldnt be pulling over folks who got tags. Were going to hear in the coming weeks things about a warrant, things about whether or not there is a gun in the car. The chief today said no. Things about the deservingness of the officer im sorry, the deserveness of the victim and the training of the officer, but this started because there were expired tags . Is there a world that we want to live in where expired tags could possibly end up in a death sentence . That something we want to do because we dont have to do that. There are places like ithaca where there is no need to send a badge and a gun. We could do this with better people, a nudge here or there. The whole setup is entirely wrong. With a lowlevel traffic stop, weve got multiple people with badges and guns. What kind of sense does that make when a simpl error could cost a father, a son, a daughter. What im watching in the press conference is all of that and people trying to keep it together because theyre supposed to be in charge of something. They cant be in charge of something this big unless the country decides they want to change it. They just cant. Ive been pulled over for expired tags in my life, and its clearly it shouldnt have to be a privilege that i dont have to be afraid of that. But here we are, it is, and someone is dead because, as you pointed out, they were pulled over initially because they had expired tags. Chuck rosenberg, let me go to you on how were going to proceed here with this investigation. We heard the police chief did not have some of the answers to the questions that were asked, partly because he seemed to say that he was overruling the state agency that investigates these crimes by releasing this body camera footage early right out of the gate. Shaq brewster mentioned thats very uncommon. I would be interested to know why you thought perhaps he went ahead and did that. Was it to calm tensions, and what role does he have in this investigation compared to that state agency that obviously did not show up at this press Conference Today because the normal protocol here wasnt followed. Right. Good questions, kasie. The brooklyn control center Police Department is not conducting the investigation. It appears to be the bureau of apprehension, the same one that investigated officer chauvin. That makes sense. You wouldnt have the department where that officer worked who fired her weapon and killed mr. Wright conduct the investigation. You would hand it off to another investigating agency. Not surprising to me he didnt have all the answers, not surprising to me he didnt have all the answers because were so early. To shaqs point and reverend sharptons point, transparency is a good thing, but they didnt seem im referring now to the release of the bodyworn camera footage, but they didnt seem prepared to answer a lot of the very logical questions that they got from the audience. So moving fast is good. Moving too fast, perhaps, not so good and you saw the effects of that. I want to echo one thing mr. Goff said, because i think he made such an important point. When i ran a large Law Enforcement agency, i used to tell the men and women who worked there that the single worst answer you can get, or that i could give you, would be because weve always done it that way. That, i think, evinces a real lack of sophisticated thought. How do we want to handle mentally ill people . How do we want to address people addicted to drugs . How do we want to handle expired tags . How do we want to execute warrants for lowlevel or misdemeanor crimes . Because thats the way weve always done it is not an acceptable answer. You have to think deeply and hard about what policing ought to look like. So i think mr. Goffs point and his illustration of other jurisdictions that are taking different approaches to traditional policing efforts is so important. Look, maybe they have it right, kasie, maybe they have it completely wrong, but we have to rethink dramatically what policing looks like in this country, and i think lots of cops, by the way, would agree with you. They would be happy to be out of some of the lines of service for which we traditionally rely upon them. I want to give reverend al sharpton the last word here to weigh in on that, and we should also mention there is another video from a gentleman in virginia who sued because he was dragged out of his vehicle by Police Officers, so yet another example. Now, that one thankfully did not end in death. But reverend al, your final thoughts today. My final thoughts are that people should look from every aspect of this country at the fact that as we are speaking, in one state alone ten miles apart, we have a black man unarmed that was killed over a pack of cigarettes and a counterfeit 20 bill that the store person said he may not have even known it was counterfeit. We have a young man ten miles up that yesterday was killed by someone in Law Enforcement who made a mistake. And they want to know why we keep marching and why we say we need federal law . When you can see the worth of a life is not even more than a 20 bill or a pack of cigarettes on accident over tags that might have expired, you understand why were saying that we have to keep going until we matter. All right. Reverend al sharpton, shaq brewster, thank you for all your voices. Msnbcs coverage including live coverage of the chauvin trial is going to continue with katy tur right after a quick break. Aty t right after a quick break. Thats why were keeping our tuition the same through the year 2021. I knew snhu was the place for me when i saw how affordable it was. I ran to my husband with my computer and i said, look, we can do this. [narrator] take advantage of some of the lowest online tuition rates in the nation. Find your degree at snhu. Edu. As carla wonders if she can retire sooner, shell revisit her plan with fidelity. And with a scenario that makes it a possibility, shell enjoy her dream right now. Thats the planning effect, from fidelity. When it comes to autism, shell enjoy her dream right now. Finding the right words can be tough. Finding understanding doesnt have to be. We can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. Go to autismspeaks. Org. Hey xfinity, show me disney plus. Im here on business. I need your help. Ive been quested to bring this one back to its kind. Now you can access exclusive disney originals. We are an unusual couple. Oh i dont think that was ever in question. And stream mustsee disney new releases people need this symbol. Where do we start . Find the best in entertainment all in one place, with disney plus now on xfinity a way better way to watch. In and around minneapolis, a shock killing of another unarmed black man in a suburb just miles