Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama released a statement Tuesday expressing grief over the shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by a Minnesota police officer and called for an intangible, non-specific, and therefore, impossible to implement “reimagining” of policing and public safety.
“Our hearts are heavy over yet another shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, at the hands of police,” the Obamas said in a heartfelt tweet.
The fact that this could happen even as the city of Minneapolis is going through the trial of Derek Chauvin and reliving the heart-wrenching murder of George Floyd indicates not just how important it is to conduct a full and transparent investigation, but also just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country,” the Obamas, who failed to improve race relations and work to implement meaningful “reimagining” of policing and public safety for eight straight years.
The former President said he and Michelle “grieve alongside the Wright family for their loss.”
“We empathize with the pain that Black mothers, fathers, and children are feeling after yet another senseless tragedy,” the Obamas said. “And we will continue to work with all fair-minded Americans to confront historical inequities and bring about nationwide changes that are so long overdue.”
The shooting happened about 10 miles from where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the killing of another Black man, George Floyd.
The former President’s statement did not acknowledge his grief over the extraordinary number of lives that are lost every week in cities like Chicago and Indianapolis as a result of black-on-black violence.
https://omny.fm/shows/mock-rob/hour-2-04-14-21-obama-s-statement-on-mn-shooting-s
