Daunte Wright’s name has become a rallying cry in the wake of his accidental death at the hands of a female Brooklyn Center police officer who confused her gun for a taser, killing Wright in April. However, new allegations suggest that much like his death, Wright’s life was marred by violence and tragedy.
A pair of civil lawsuits filed against Wright’s estate on behalf of victims allege that he shot a 16 year old boy in the head two years ago and was involved in a carjacking three weeks prior to his death that left a man shot and permanently disabled.
In both cases, Wright knew the men he later turned his gun on.
Caleb Livingston and Wright used to be very close friends. As children, Livingston’s first ever sleepover was at Wright’s house, per KSTP. However, the two eventually had a falling out, and Livingston beat up Wright in front of other people. This apparently provided the motivation for Wright to shoot his former friend in the head outside a gas station in May of 2019.
Livingston survived the incident but is presently in a vegetative state.
“He has a neurological syndrome known as UWS, Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome,” attorney Mike Padden told the Pioneer Press. “He’s basically in a vegetative state. He can’t do any activity of daily living; he can’t speak; he doesn’t recognize anyone. It’s a very sad situation.”
Wright’s other alleged victim, Joshua Hodges, used to be a classmate of Wright’s. This did not stop Wright from joining with another man to carjack Hodges, leaving him shot in the leg. He now suffers from permanent pain and disability.
Wright has also been accused of various other violent crimes. On one occasion he attended a party, slept on the floor, then proceeded to hold one of the female home occupants at gunpoint the next morning to steal her rent money. According to a police report, he “choked her while trying to pull the cash out from under her bra.” This effort was unsuccessful, although he was later apprehended and released on probation.
While on probation, he was accused of waving a handgun before throwing it away and fleeing Minneapolis police on foot. It was this incident that generated the arrest warrant which Brooklyn Center police attempted to serve when Wright was shot and killed.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media, activist groups, and prominent Democrats have all apparently ignored Wright’s long history of violence. Gov. Tim Walz even ordered a moment of silence for the man, hoping this action would assist in ending what Walz called “deep, systemic racism” in his state.
The general public is also steady in their support for Wright. A petition to bring him justice still gets signatures on a daily basis. Some have even gone as far as buying his family items from their public Amazon wish list and giving them over one million dollars via GoFundMe.
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
