‘We shouldn’t have to be here.’ Charlotte vigil calls for justice for Daunte Wright

The names of Black civil rights leaders echoed through Romare Bearden Park in Charlotte on Saturday evening.

Along with names like Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a crowd of about 30 people called out names like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Andrew Joseph III — and Daunte Wright.

The crowd came together Saturday night to honor the life of 20-year-old Wright, who was killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minn., last month. The event was organized by his sister, Monica Wright of Fayetteville. Wright’s brother, Marcus, and two of his aunts were at the uptown vigil too.

Monica wants justice for her brother — but justice would be having him standing next to her, she said.

After George Floyd was murdered by a police officer last year, Wright’s aunt, Naisha Wright, prayed for her brother and nephews, she told the crowd Saturday.

And yet, less than a year later, she was standing at a vigil for her 20-year-old nephew.

“This feeling is like no other,” she said. “My nephew — that life was taken by someone of authority. That’s (supposed to) protect and serve us. We shouldn’t have to be here.

“We should not be in this park, with candles lit, with my nephew’s name out here.”

The vigil came just days before the next court hearing for the police officer who killed him.

Former suburban Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter, who will appear in court on Monday, is charged with second-degree manslaughter in Wright’s death.

Potter shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop in April. Police say she confused her firearm with her Taser.

But Wright’s sister Monica said the charge shouldn’t have been manslaughter.

“Let’s just face the truth: that wasn’t an accident,” she said. “He was murdered on camera.”

She said she wants everyone to know her brother’s name — and know who he was.

He was always happy, she said: “Even when the situation was negative, he tried to turn it into a positive. Daunte was Daunte — an amazing boy, amazing man.”

Wright left behind a 1-year-old son, Daunte Wright Jr. Organizer Jorden Giger of Black Lives Matter South Bend, Indiana said Wright’s young son is one big reason to organize against police brutality.

“We have to build a better world for our kids,” Giger said Saturday. “We have to build a better world for Daunte’s son. We don’t want Daunte’s son to grow up in a world where he feels that what happened to his father can also happen to him.”