University Statement on Recent Police Shooting

Dear friends,

The Andrews University Office of Diversity & Inclusion joins in a chorus of voices across our nation and world that mourn the recent shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by Kim Potter, a Brooklyn Center police officer, this past Sunday, April 11, during a routine traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Even more tragically, the shooting occurred just ten miles away from the site of Officer Derek Chauvin’s current trial, where he faces three murder/manslaughter charges in connection with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis nearly a year ago in May 2020.

In the wake of Daunte’s killing, his mother Katie Wright has publicly shared that “[Daunte] was a son, he was a brother, he was an uncle, he was a grandson and he was so much more.” As a student, Daunte had worked with Project Success, a non-profit organization that helps Minneapolis school students plan for their futures. Daunte leaves behind his parents, Aubrey and Katie Wright, the mother of his child, Chyna, and his soon to be 2-year-old son, Daunte Jr.

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon described the shooting death of Daunte Wright as “an accidental discharge” and stated that Officer Potter had intended to fire her Taser and not her handgun. In the aftermath of Sunday’s event, Chief Gannon and Officer Potter both resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Tuesday, April 13. On Wednesday, April 14, it was announced that Officer Potter will face second degree manslaughter charges, to be issued by the Washington County Attorney’s Office.

Regardless of the attempts to explain and ultimately understand this shooting death of Daunte Wright in the days and weeks to come, we are once again left heartbroken, frustrated and dumbfounded that another “routine traffic stop” has led to the death of an unarmed Black person. In our heartbreak, frustration and anger, we realize that ultimately there aren’t any adequate words at moments like this that can help us make sense of yet another one of these tragic deaths. This incident is a painful reminder of just how much more progress still needs to be made on our essential journey toward true equity, liberty and justice for everyone in our country and in our world.

Incidentally, as I share this news, I also cannot help but reflect on last summer’s reckoning with the continuing pandemic of systemic racism that saw an awakening to, and protests against, some of the painful realities that the Black community has been dealing with for centuries. The discussions of those issues on our own campus this past summer led, in part, to the creation of the George Floyd Scholar program.

As I thought about the impact of that new program and its intentions to recognize students who seek to create hope and inspire change in the world, I reached out to Jennifer Jean. Jennifer is a freshman biology major and the inaugural recipient of a full-tuition scholarship from the George Floyd Scholar program. Here are her own reactions to the shooting death of Daunte Wright:

“This week we were hit with yet another tragedy—the shooting death of Daunte Wright. As I read the news, I am filled with disgust and anger for the corrupt nature of the justice system. As a country, we have begun to be desensitized due to the fact that these shootings and deaths have become such a common occurrence. Something that is particularly heartbreaking this week and with this story is that the shooting and death of Daunte Wright occurred during the George Floyd trial in the same area. The irony of this is while we are fighting for the justice of one Black man, another one has been shot and killed and once again failed by the justice system. SAY HIS NAME: DAUNTE WRIGHT.”

The Black Student Christian Forum, in collaboration with the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, the Andrews University Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Center and the Center for Faith Engagement, is planning to host a virtual forum conversation titled “Here Again: Processing the Shooting Death of Daunte Wright” to help our Andrews University campus community discuss and process these recent events. The program will take place on Tuesday, April 20, at 11:30 a.m. via Zoom here. Co-curricular credit will be provided.

On a personal level, you may want to talk with someone to help you understand and process your grief and even anger as you process this tragic news. If that’s true for you, I invite you to connect directly with our chaplains at our Center for Faith Engagement or with our counselors in our Counseling & Testing Center to find a way to have some of those heartbroken, personal and essential conversations for your own heart and life.

As I share these thoughts today, I find the words of the prophet Habakkuk especially powerful and relevant right now, especially in the beginning verses of Habakkuk 1:

“How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! ‘Violence is everywhere!’ I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted” (Habakkuk 1:2–4, NLT).

What we find in God’s response to Habbakuk is that He would respond to the injustice described in Habakkuk’s inquiry, and God would lead him in a direction that he would not expect. Those words recorded in Habakkuk are a reminder that oftentimes God answers our questions in ways we cannot foresee and, at times, we do not fully understand. So if you personally resonate with the questions of Habakkuk in this particular moment of heartbreak and even anger, I realize that while I do not know what God’s individual response to you will be, I can assure you that He will respond. I continue to be convinced that God sees every act of injustice in this world, and His heart aches for the misery it has caused.

As a result, I believe we can take comfort in knowing that God will have the final say in this moment,  amidst all the tragedy and heartache of our world that desperately needs the answers and peace of His kingdom:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NLT).

Grace and peace,

Michael