Joint Statement of Minnesota Women Layers and the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association

On behalf of Minnesota Women Lawyers (MWL) and the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association (MAIBA), we join our community in grieving the killing of twenty-year-old Daunte Wright, who died on April 11, 2021 after being shot by police during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

Today, our organizations had collaborated to present a session focused on Savanna’s Act: Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.  As we would have discussed during today’s MWL and MAIBA event, Congress recently enacted Savanna’s Act, a law requiring the United States Department of Justice to review, revise, and develop law enforcement and justice protocols to address missing or murdered Native Americans. We implore our Minnesota leadership to also address and review law enforcement and justice protocols as it relates to the recent deaths of Daunte Wright and many others.

We mourn the tragic death of Daunte Wright, and recognize the deep physical and emotional toll that his death—and the deaths of and discrimination against so very many others—has on our entire community, in particular our Black community members, our indigenous community members, and community members of color.

Our organizations stand in support of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, to our community members of color, and to other affinity bar associations.  We are committed to providing safe spaces for our members, allies and the community to address injustice and discrimination, and we are compelled to listen, learn, speak up and commit to doing the difficult but absolutely essential work of addressing injustice across our community.