Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Once again, our community is in a state of shock at the death of an unarmed black man in an encounter with law enforcement. Daunte Wright should be alive today, but instead his life was cut tragically short in a matter of seconds. My condolences and heart goes out to his family, his friends, and our entire community as we grieve over his death.
It has not even been a full year since the murder of George Floyd, and with the eyes of the world on Minnesota, another black man has been killed by a system that is not working. It is up to each of us to play a role in taking the steps necessary to achieve true accountability and reform, and to ensure that justice comes.
There is still more information coming out regarding this situation. You no doubt have heard and read the reports from the Chief of Police and our Governor and followed social media accounts. Regardless, A man is still dead and his young son, a child left behind.
While the state legislature made some movement last summer with the Police Accountability Act of 2020, that was only the beginning. It was the bare minimum of what everyone could agree to at the time and there is still so much work left to be done around public safety reform. We must work together to make critical, effective, and long-term structural changes so that every Minnesotan feels safe in their community and across the state—regardless of what they look like.”
No matter our differences or where we live, we are all Minnesotans. We should want to see our fellow Minnesotans in every part of our state succeed. There are things that unite us as Minnesotans, including the shared belief that we all deserve to be safe in our communities.
Now is the time for us to come together, to mourn and grieve, but to also find within each other our common humanity to build a better world.
Sincerely,
Senator John Hoffman
If you have any questions or concerns feel free to call my office at 651-296-4154 or by e-mail at jhoffman@senate.mn