Following the murder of Daunte Wright during a routine traffic stop outside of Minneapolis last night, PA Stands Up issued a statement from Canvass Manager Dom Holmes:
“We are mourning and angry for the unjust taking of Daunte Wright’s life last night in Minnesota. Daunte Wright’s murder highlights once again the history of racist, violent policing we face in this country.
“Taking place just miles from where Derrick Chauvin is on trial for murdering George Floyd last summer, this murder during a routine traffic stop highlights the on-going, everyday nature of the crisis of police violence against Black and brown people. Wright’s murder is painfully familiar to many communities across Pennsylvania, from the killing of Ricardo Munoz in Lancaster in September to Walter Wallace Jr.’s murder by police in Philadelphia in October, to Christian Hall’s killing in the Monroe County in December, and most recently Stephen Hughes killing in Berks County last month.
“We cannot trust police and juries to change the system. We call on our lawmakers to protect us to no avail. What are we left to do to protect ourselves against murderous cops and the racist system that breeds and protects them? Daunte made a phone call to his mother, George Floyd called out to his, it is a sense of hopelessness that is all too familiar.”
“We stand in solidarity with Daunte Wright’s family, including his one-year-old son Daunte Jr., and with all those in the streets demanding justice and mourning Daunte’s death and the on-going crisis of racism and policing in this country.”
Dom Holmes is the canvass manager at Pennsylvania Stands Up. After taking the streets with his fellow community members during the Black Lives Matter uprisings this summer, Dom led a deep canvass reaching out to voters in rural parts of the state to talk about shifting resources away from violent policing and toward community services.
PA Stands Up chapters have been organizing in the wake of each of these local police killings. Most recently, Lehigh Valley Stands Up has been working with allies to demand AG Josh Shapiro open an investigation into the killing of Christian Hall. We urgently call on our elected leaders to redefine public safety and accountability. We demand a future where we can all be connected, represented, and free.
To interview Dom Holmes, or for more information about the work Pennsylvania Stands Up is doing, please contact PA Stands Up here.