Show an ad over header. AMP

Brooklyn Center mayor in the spotlight after Daunte Wright shooting

14 April 2021
Dan Ackermann

The killing of Daunte Wright by a Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer has thrust Mayor Mike Elliott into the national spotlight.

The big picture: Elliott,with the backing of the city council, has acted quickly and boldly in the wake of the shooting. He fired longtime city manager Curt Boganey, took control of the police department and called for the firing of officer Kim Potter, who resigned on Tuesday.

Context: What's happening in Brooklyn Center is a tough situation for anyone, let alone a 37-year-old who had no prior City Council experience and has only been mayor of the city of 31,000 for two years.

  • Rep. Samantha Vang (DFL-Brooklyn Center) noted that a city Brooklyn Center's size doesn't have the resources like Minneapolis or St. Paul to handle protests and unrest, which she described as the biggest public safety issue in America.
  • "It's not easyand I can only imagine the position he is in," she said.

Elliott immigrated to the US from Liberia at age 11, graduated from Hamline University and is reflective of the west metro suburb he leads. Brooklyn Center is young, diverse and has a large Liberian population.

The other side: While some have praised Elliott's swift actions, the move to fire Boganey, who is Black, was concerning to state Sen. Chris Eaton (DFL), who has represented Brooklyn Center at the Capitol for 10 years.

  • "I'm absolutely flabbergasted that he fired our city manager who has been here for quite some time and is a personal friend and does an excellent job," Eaton told Axios.
  • Eaton wasalso concerned about Elliott's lack of experience to oversee the police department.

Eaton, whose husband Tim Willson lost to Elliott in the mayoral race, appreciated Elliott's efforts to calm the protestors on Monday and said, "I think he's doing the best he can. I just am not sure he's qualified."

What's ahead: Elliott held a press conference on Tuesday, shortly after police chief Tim Gannon resigned.

  • Elliott called on Gov. Tim Walz to move the Potter case to Attorney General Keith Ellison's office for prosecution.
  • Washington County District Attorney Pete Orput expects to make a charging decision today.

This story first appeared in theAxios Twin Citiesnewsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.