RACINE — Tuesday evening, marchers in Downtown Racine showed solidarity with the Twin Cities and Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, after the police shooting and killing of Daunte Wright on Sunday.

Wright’s death, which video indicates occurred because now-retired Officer Kim Potter pulled out her handgun and fired when she meant to draw her taser, has quickly sent ripples across the country, reminiscent of the movement that began last year after the death of George Floyd.

The organizer of Tuesday’s march in Racine is Change is Coming, a local organization dedicated to social justice. Marchers gathered at 5 p.m. Tuesday on Monument Square before they chanted through the city’s streets.

A small motorcade drove alongside the marchers, similar to how many protests occurred last year.

Xavier Simmons, a leader of Change is Coming, told the group of marchers before they set out: “We’re gonna march all night.”

Simmons said the group came together to show solidarity with Minnesota against police brutality and to support Wright.

“It hit home today when I heard about how he was labeled and treated,” Simmons, who has been the leader of numerous protests in the county for about a year.

“He was just a target because he was black. I’m black,” Simmons continued. “I’m tired of being targeted. I’m tired of adding names to this list.” Simmons is referring to the list of black people killed by police, including Ty’Rese West and Donte Shannon, two young men from Racine shot and killed while fleeing from police, both of whom police say were armed when they were killed.

Valerie Norberlyn and her daughter, Shayla, were in attendance for the protest.

“I don’t stand against cops, but police should have better training,” Norberlyn said. “I would be heartbroken if it happened to my daughter.”

Shayla, 13, was wearing a T-shirt with an air freshener logo on it, referencing the air freshener that was hanging from Wright’s car’s rearview mirror when he was killed. Tim Gannon, who had been chief of the Brooklyn Center Police Department but retired after the death of Wright, said Wright was pulled over for a traffic violation, after which officers were told there was a warrant for Wright’s arrest.

Brooklyn Center police chief, officer who shot Daunte Wright resign.

The departures were among a series of rapid-fire leadership changes at City Hall. 

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon and Kimberly Potter, the police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop Sunday, both resigned Tuesday amid a seismic leadership shake-up in the north metro suburb.

Mayor Mike Elliott announced at a City Hall news conference that Gannon had stepped down as police chief, a position he took in 2015 after serving as an officer with the department for 22 years.

Potter, who fired the shot that killed Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, resigned earlier in the day, according to a statement from Law Enforcement Labor Services, the state’s largest public safety labor union. One of just a handful of women on the force, Potter was with the department for 26 years.

The overhaul at City Hall also included the firing Monday of longtime City Manager Curt Boganey, who had responsibility and day-to-day command over the police department until the City Council gave that authority, at least temporarily, to the mayor’s office. Elliott said Boganey had made strides in improving the city, but the council “determined it was in the best interest to seek new leadership in the city.”

Cmdr. Tony Gruenig, who has been with the department 19 years, will serve as acting police chief. He will be assisted by Cmdr. Garett Flesland, another veteran officer. Together they will lead a staff of about 49 officers, of which “very few” are Black or people of color, Elliott said.

Gannon, a Marine Corps veteran, told a local cable TV news station when he was appointed chief that he wanted to reduce crime, create better connections between officers and the community and diversify the department.

In an interview, former Brooklyn Center Mayor Tim Willson said Gannon knew and understood the community and worked with officers to determine if they were doing the right thing.

“When he was appointed chief, that was a good deal,” Willson said. “He was a very good and dedicated police officer. I’m very sad to see him go.”

Elliott had little to say about his former police chief at Tuesday’s media event, but said Gruenig has a strong commitment to working with the community.

“He has done that throughout his career,” Elliott said. “That is why he is the right person for the job.”

Gruenig, who said at Tuesday’s news conference that he’d learned of the staffing change within the previous hour, faces major challenges.

SHARI GROSS, STAR TRIBUNEFormer Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon and Kimberly Potter, the police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop Sunday, both resigned Tuesday amid a seismic leadership shake-up in the north metro suburb.

Mayor Mike Elliott announced at a City Hall news conference that Gannon had stepped down as police chief, a position he took in 2015 after serving as an officer with the department for 22 years.

Potter, who fired the shot that killed Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, resigned earlier in the day, according to a statement from Law Enforcement Labor Services, the state’s largest public safety labor union. One of just a handful of women on the force, Potter was with the department for 26 years.

The overhaul at City Hall also included the firing Monday of longtime City Manager Curt Boganey, who had responsibility and day-to-day command over the police department until the City Council gave that authority, at least temporarily, to the mayor’s office. Elliott said Boganey had made strides in improving the city, but the council “determined it was in the best interest to seek new leadership in the city.”

Cmdr. Tony Gruenig, who has been with the department 19 years, will serve as acting police chief. He will be assisted by Cmdr. Garett Flesland, another veteran officer. Together they will lead a staff of about 49 officers, of which “very few” are Black or people of color, Elliott said.

Gannon, a Marine Corps veteran, told a local cable TV news station when he was appointed chief that he wanted to reduce crime, create better connections between officers and the community and diversify the department.

In an interview, former Brooklyn Center Mayor Tim Willson said Gannon knew and understood the community and worked with officers to determine if they were doing the right thing.

“When he was appointed chief, that was a good deal,” Willson said. “He was a very good and dedicated police officer. I’m very sad to see him go.”

Elliott had little to say about his former police chief at Tuesday’s media event, but said Gruenig has a strong commitment to working with the community.

“He has done that throughout his career,” Elliott said. “That is why he is the right person for the job.”

Gruenig, who said at Tuesday’s news conference that he’d learned of the staffing change within the previous hour, faces major challenges.

“It’s very chaotic right now,” he said. “We’re just trying to wrap our heads around the situation and try to create some calm.”

As protesters returned to police headquarters Tuesday night after tense encounters with law enforcement Sunday and Monday, officers were under new restraints.

The City Council on Monday passed a resolution prohibiting officers from using tear gas or other chemicals and from shooting rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Officers will not be able to cover their badge numbers or prohibit members of the public from videotaping them while on duty. They also will be prohibited from forming police lines to arrest large numbers of people, performing chokeholds or using harsher methods.

Some members of the public who attended Tuesday’s news conference were heartened to hear that the new chief wants to reach out to the community, but others said wholesale changes are needed within the department, starting with a review of internal policies and procedures.

They wondered if anything would change, even with a new chief.

SHARI GROSS, STAR TRIBUNEbFormer Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon and Kimberly Potter, the police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop Sunday, both resigned Tuesday amid a seismic leadership shake-up in the north metro suburb.

Mayor Mike Elliott announced at a City Hall news conference that Gannon had stepped down as police chief, a position he took in 2015 after serving as an officer with the department for 22 years.

Potter, who fired the shot that killed Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, resigned earlier in the day, according to a statement from Law Enforcement Labor Services, the state’s largest public safety labor union. One of just a handful of women on the force, Potter was with the department for 26 years.

The overhaul at City Hall also included the firing Monday of longtime City Manager Curt Boganey, who had responsibility and day-to-day command over the police department until the City Council gave that authority, at least temporarily, to the mayor’s office. Elliott said Boganey had made strides in improving the city, but the council “determined it was in the best interest to seek new leadership in the city.”

Cmdr. Tony Gruenig, who has been with the department 19 years, will serve as acting police chief. He will be assisted by Cmdr. Garett Flesland, another veteran officer. Together they will lead a staff of about 49 officers, of which “very few” are Black or people of color, Elliott said.

Gannon, a Marine Corps veteran, told a local cable TV news station when he was appointed chief that he wanted to reduce crime, create better connections between officers and the community and diversify the department.

In an interview, former Brooklyn Center Mayor Tim Willson said Gannon knew and understood the community and worked with officers to determine if they were doing the right thing.

“When he was appointed chief, that was a good deal,” Willson said. “He was a very good and dedicated police officer. I’m very sad to see him go.”

Elliott had little to say about his former police chief at Tuesday’s media event, but said Gruenig has a strong commitment to working with the community.

“He has done that throughout his career,” Elliott said. “That is why he is the right person for the job.”

Gruenig, who said at Tuesday’s news conference that he’d learned of the staffing change within the previous hour, faces major challenges.

“It’s very chaotic right now,” he said. “We’re just trying to wrap our heads around the situation and try to create some calm.”

As protesters returned to police headquarters Tuesday night after tense encounters with law enforcement Sunday and Monday, officers were under new restraints.

The City Council on Monday passed a resolution prohibiting officers from using tear gas or other chemicals and from shooting rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Officers will not be able to cover their badge numbers or prohibit members of the public from videotaping them while on duty. They also will be prohibited from forming police lines to arrest large numbers of people, performing chokeholds or using harsher methods.

Some members of the public who attended Tuesday’s news conference were heartened to hear that the new chief wants to reach out to the community, but others said wholesale changes are needed within the department, starting with a review of internal policies and procedures.

They wondered if anything would change, even with a new chief.

“You can take the trash out, but it has a way of recycling itself,” said Kimberly Handy-Jones, whose son Cordale was killed in 2017 in a confrontation with St. Paul police.

State Rep. John Thompson, DFL-St. Paul, said the department needs to stop racial profiling and that “some things don’t need to be enforced” — a reference to officers stopping Wright because his vehicle had expired license tabs.

After the stop, officers determined Wright had a warrant. Potter mistakenly used her gun instead of a Taser as officers tried to arrest Wright, Gannon said Monday.

In an interview Tuesday with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, said the encounter “should have never escalated the way it did.”

Aubrey Wright, Daunte Wright’s father, said he can’t accept Gannon’s explanation that Potter mistook a firearm for a Taser.

“I lost my son. He’s never coming back,” he said. “A mistake, that doesn’t even sound right.”

At City Hall, Elliott said the personnel changes won’t be a panacea, but the mayor hopes they will bring calm to the community.

“I went out and talked with the protesters and I saw young people who looked like Daunte,” Elliott said. “I could feel their pain, their anger, their fear. Ultimately they want justice and full accountability under the law. We have to make sure justice is done.”

Sources: The journal times/Star Tribune.