MN Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan: ‘Minnesota Is A Place Where It Is Not Safe To Be Black’
Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images.
As protests continue in Minnesota in response to the death of Daunte Wright and the trial of Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd comes to an end, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) posted a statement on Twitter that Minnesota was “a place where it is not safe to be Black.”
Flanagan, the second Native American to win a statewide elected office in American history, tweeted her text statement around 3:40 pm ET Sunday afternoon.
— Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (@LtGovFlanagan) April 18, 2021
“This week I have felt my role as a mother so deeply,” wrote Flanagan, describing “heartbreaking conversations” she had had with her daughter regarding Wright’s death.
“We must never forget the reason there are protesters and law enforcement in our streets is because Daunte Wright was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop,” Flanagan continued. “Katie Wright lost her son. Daunte Wright, Jr. — not yet 2 years old — lost his father. Daunte Wright should still be alive.”
“As a child advocate,” she declared, “I am grappling with the stark reality: Minnesota is a place where it is not safe to be Black. This is the essence of an emergency we face.”
“This is our reputation, and this is our shame,” she wrote, advocating for her state to rethink policing and crowd control, to “find the right balance between safety and that free expression.”
“Going forward, our moral imperative is to ensure that the sets of circumstances and conditions that led to the death of Daunte Wright, Sr. will be different for Daunte Wright, Jr. and every other child like him.”
