Flowers for Daunte Wright Held at CJM Memorial

DULUTH, Minn.– Community groups came out the Clayton Jackon McGhee Memorial in downtown Duluth this evening to bring attention to the fatal officer involved shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

“The state of Minnesota right now is currently navigating a lot of trauma. As a collective, we’re all fighting to heal. And I think uplifting each other and empowering one another and supporting each other and putting love out there is how we move forward together,” said organizer Taysha Martineau.

Following the verdict, demonstrations were held in Minneapolis and right here in Duluth yesterday and Wednesday night, organizers of that demonstration put on a different event for the community. The activists seeking justice for Daunte Wright, the 20 year old who was shot while resisting arrest in Brooklyn Center just last week.

After the verdict in the George Floyd trial, community members are coming together to continue their fight for social justice in a different way.

Instead of a demonstration or protest, a vigil was held for Daunte Wright called “Flowers for Daunte” at the Clayton Jackson Mcghee Memorial in downtown Duluth. People could place flowers in the memorial’s flower bed to show their support for wright. Care packages with hard to access items during the pandemic including toothpaste and toothbrushes, soap, along with snacks and gift cards. Organizers of the event say they want to show solidarity and help each other during this time.

“We need to have answers and part of that answer is community care. So we always make sure to bring care bags for people who are in need and just to put some light in this current darkness,” said Martineau.

Some flowers were put in the bed at the memorial, others were put in front of the pictures of Clayton, Jackson, And McGhee. One organizer got the idea to bring flowers after seeing similar demonstrations in the Twin Cities. She says laying down the flowers adds to the memorial and serves as a vigil for wright.

“I would like to do whatever. Put flowers out here, make it a memorial. I mean, what do you bring to a memorial when someone dies? And you have three innocent men that were lynched here so this shouldn’t even be like this,” said Lamar Quita Leach, an organizer for Black Lives Matter Twin Ports.

Organizers from today’s community event say there aren’t any more of these events scheduled but hope to do more in the future to continue their fight for social justice.