Stay updated with breaking news from Jim verbout. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
By Tim Speier, Freelance Journalist While community members mourned the loss of Daunte Wright last month, a nightcap of teargas and flashbangs shook the neighborhood around the Brooklyn Center Police Department, compelling Pastor Dan Haukos at Lutheran Church of the Master to keep the church doors open to all. After a Brooklyn Center police officer shot Daunte Wright on April 11, protests erupted around the city’s police department. Protesters and medics found sanctuary at the nearby LCM as the congregation offered a place to warm up and grab snacks. Even as police pressure escalated near the church, they held their doors open providing “hospitality ministry” to everyone from undercover police to wounded protestors. ....
Minnesota churches caught in standoffs between protesters and police At least two congregations have found themselves at the center of standoffs between police and racial justice demonstrators over the past week, both in Brooklyn Center. Police stand in formation near Kenyan Community Seventh-day Adventist Church in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis, Monday, April 12, 2021. Daunte Wright was killed in Brooklyn Center on April 11, 2021. Photo by Scott Streble April 20, 2021 (RNS) For more than a week, Simeon Momanyi has worked to strike a balance between abiding by law enforcement and ministering to protesters decrying racism and police brutality. It’s a complex task: Kenyan Community Seventh-day Adventist Church, where he serves as pastor, is adjacent to a police precinct in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, where protests have flared following the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by an officer earlier this ....