Daunte Wright was stopped for expired plates, but driving while Black may have been his 'crime'

The chain of events that ended with yet another fatal police shooting of a Black man in Minnesota began in what has become a typical tragedy — with a traffic stop for a minor infraction.

"He was pulled over for having an expired registration on the vehicle," Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said Monday.

Minutes later, a gunshot rang out, and Wright joined the ranks of other Black motorists who have died after having been pulled by police, a group that includes Philando Castile, 32, who was fatally shot in 2016 by a Minneapolis police officer after he was stopped for a broken taillight.

Gannon said Monday that he believes the officer meant to pull a Taser in Sunday's shooting but instead pulled her service weapon.

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott, who is Black, said the shooting of Wright was "heartbreaking, unfathomable.".

Former Minneapolis police Officer Mylan Masson, retired director of the Law Enforcement Program at Hennepin Technical College, which trains about half of Minnesota's police officers, was among the most prominent policing experts in Minnesota to condemn the use of force that resulted in Floyd's death.

But in the case of Wright, Masson said, so far it appears that Brooklyn Center police had adequate reason to pull over Wright's SUV, and she said dangling anything from a rearview mirror is a violation.

Asked why police would pull over Black motorists for minor infractions while a racially charged trial was going on just 14 miles away, Masson said, "They still have to do their jobs."