Were his actions, if he was actually attempting to escape intentional?
Can we say that without a full investigation?
I do not believe we can.
Police are trained to look for violations, but they also bring to the job the same prejudices and false perceptions about crime that the general public holds, said Brian Levin, director of the
Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
"While recruits enter the profession with the same unfortunate stereotypes present overall in society, these prejudices, even subconscious ones, can be further elevated later by such things as peer validation, poor training and unfounded fears to create disastrous outcomes in highly charged situations," said Levin, who walked a beat in Harlem as a New York City police officer before he became an academic.
Wright's death also coincided with reports that two Virginia police officers are being sued, accused of threatening to execute Army 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario during a traffic stop — and blasting him with pepper spray.
They pulled over Nazario, who is Black and Latino, for not having license plates on his newly purchased SUV even though a new vehicle tag was
clearly visible in the rear window.
Corky Siemaszko
Corky Siemaszko is a senior writer for NBC News Digital.
Daunte Wright was stopped for expired plates, but driving while Black may have been his 'crime'