A heavy police presence met protesters marching down the streets in Hollywood late Thursday night calling for justice after the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb.
Video footage showed dozens of demonstrators walking about 10 p.m. while chanting Wright’s name and “Black Lives Matter.” At least a dozen police officers initially followed the crowd from the sidewalks. Within the next hour, that number appeared to grow to at least 100.
The marchers took off after holding a candlelight vigil at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street, where dozens of people came together to sing.
The protest follows others nationwide and across the city this week in the wake of Wright’s death. Wright, 20, was killed Sunday in Brooklyn Center, Minn. The city’s police chief, who has since stepped down, said he believed the officer who shot Wright intended to use a Taser, not a firearm. That officer, who has resigned, was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter.
The shooting came as tensions were high in Minneapolis with the ongoing trial of former Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd last May. Activists also staged protests Thursday after the release of body camera video showing the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo late last month in Chicago.
