'He's Never Coming Back': Daunte Wright's Parents Want Justice For Their Son's Death

Daunte Wright’s parents want to see justice served for the killing of their 20-year-old son

The parents of Daunte Wright are speaking out about the murder of their son at the hands of a 26-year police vet, Kim Potter, who said she accidentally pulled her gun instead of a taser during a traffic stop on Sunday in Brooklyn Center, MN.

“I lost my son, he’s never coming back,” Daunte Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, told Robin Roberts in an exclusive interview Tuesday on Good Morning America. “I can’t accept that — a mistake, that doesn’t even sound right,” he added. “This officer has been on the force for 26 years. I can’t accept that.”

The parents also told Roberts they want to see “justice served” and the officer who shot their son “held accountable for everything that she’s taken from us.”

“My position is that we cannot afford to make mistakes that lead to the loss of life of other people in our profession,” Brooklyn Center mayor Mike Elliott told reporters Monday.

“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 officer’s reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright,” Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon said during a press conference on Monday.

“To have the department come out and just chalk this up to being an accident is by no means proper or enough. There were a number of intentional events that led to their son being dead and we need to find out exactly why each one of those intentional acts happened,” Wright family attorney Jeffrey Storms said Tuesday. “They want accountability. And they want justice. And they want answers.”

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who will be representing the family of Daunte Wright also weighed in on Wright’s murder. “She was a training officer and so it’s not about training, it’s about implicit bias,” Crump said on Good Morning America. “It’s about giving the same respect and consideration to people of color that we give to white American citizens. We don’t see these sort of things happening to white young people that we see happening over and over and over again to young, marginalized minorities.

They could have given him a ticket, given him a notice to show up. But just like in George Floyd — they could have given him a ticket — they used the most force when it comes to dealing with marginalized minorities,” he added. “And we can’t have these two Americas — one where we treat Black Americans different from white Americans in policing.”

Wright’s killing sparked protesting and rioting — some violent — in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, Portland, New York, and other U.S. cities. A curfew was imposed in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, and other parts of Minnesota on Monday evening.

Daunte Wright’s family has called for peaceful protests and thanked the community for rallying around their son. “I want to say thank you so much for the support and standing by us,” Wright’s mom said, “and making sure that my son’s name doesn’t get swept under the rug.”