Evening Briefing: The killing of Daunte Wright

April 12, 2021

Your Monday Evening Briefing

By Will Dudding and Judith Levitt

Good evening. Here's the latest.

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

1. The police officer who fatally shot a 20-year-old Black man believed her gun was a Taser, officials said.

Police in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis, released a graphic body-camera video that appeared to depict the officer shouting, "Taser!" before firing her gun at Daunte Wright during a traffic stop.

The officer, whose name has not been released, is heard on the video saying, "Holy shit. I just shot him." She has been placed on administrative leave, and the town's mayor called for her to be fired. Here's what we know about the killing of Mr. Wright.

The shooting, which led to protests and clashes with the police on Sunday, occurred in a region that was already on edge because of the ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged with murder in George Floyd's death. In the courtroom, a cardiologist testified that Mr. Floyd's killing was "absolutely preventable," and his brother took the stand. Read the key moments from Day 11 of the trial.

One person was killed and a police officer was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after a shooting at a Tennessee high school, officials said

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Nicole Hester/Ann Arbor News, via Associated Press

2. Federal officials said Michigan needed to enact shutdown measures to stem a worrying surge of coronavirus infections, but the state's governor is pushing back and requesting additional vaccine doses.

"The answer is not necessarily to give vaccine," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, snubbing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's plea. Michigan has only used 78 percent of the doses delivered so far.

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Ms. Whitmer, above left, resisted ordering more restrictions after facing political blowback over previous moves to shut down businesses and schools. Last week, she asked residents to take more "personal responsibility" to slow the outbreak, a position cheered by Republican lawmakers in the state.

In New York, officials have lifted a requirement compelling international travelers to quarantine, though they continue to recommend it. Virus-related hospitalizations in the state were at 4,083 on Sunday, their lowest number since Dec. 2, according to the governor's office.

Mary Turner for The New York Times

3. Britain is lifting its third lockdown, and loosening some of the world's most stringent and longest-lasting restrictions.

Thousands of gyms, salons, stores and pubs opened their doors for the first time in months, injecting life into communities where activity has been suspended since January because of the deadly and contagious B.1.1.7 variant. Above, people gather outside a pub in London.

The government hopes to lift almost all restrictions in England by June 21, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are following similar timetables.

Separately, as India struggles with the world's fastest-growing outbreak, officials are worried about a sacred Hindu pilgrimage in which millions will seek absolution by bathing in the Ganges.

Vahid Salemi/Associated Press

4. Iran vowed revenge against Israel after a blackout at an Iranian nuclear enrichment site that was attributed to an Israeli attack.

The comments, made by the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, above, represent a new low in a yearslong shadow war between the two countries. The incident at the plant will set back Iran's nuclear program by months.

The Israeli government formally declined to comment on its involvement in the blackout on Sunday, but American and Israeli officials confirmed to The Times that Israel had played a role.

Officials did not say whether the U.S. government had been warned of the attack in advance, or whether the attack had been timed to coincide with a visit between Lloyd J. Austin III, the U.S. defense secretary, and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz. But talks to bring the U.S. and Iran back into the 2015 nuclear deal might have just gotten harder.

Alex Plavevski/EPA, via Shutterstock

5. China targets Big Tech.

Ant Group, the fintech sister company of Alibaba, will undertake a government-ordered overhaul to allay regulators' concerns about its business practices and the risks it may pose to the wider financial system. Last fall, the Chinese government stopped Ant from debuting a blockbuster initial public offering.

The size and influence of the company — led by its flagship app Alipay, which has 700 million monthly users — has been a red flag for leaders in Beijing, who are concerned about the vast power of tech companies and the influence of moguls like Jack Ma, Alibaba's billionaire co-founder and Ant's controlling shareholder.

While tech companies have helped put China at the forefront of digital finance, they have also threatened to weaken the influence of government-owned banks and other institutions.

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Josh Galemore/Arizona Daily Star, via Associated Press

6. President Biden has chosen Chris Magnus, the progressive police chief of Tucson, Ariz., to to lead Customs and Border Protection.

Mr. Magnus, above, was an advocate of community policing efforts while overseeing various departments in California and Arizona. If confirmed by the Senate, he will have to handle a record number of border crossings that is projected to rise even further in the months ahead.

The White House also announced agreements with Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to increase their numbers of police officers and troops in an attempt to keep migrants from making the dangerous trip north. The Trump administration signed similar agreements.

Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

7. Old wounds are reopening in Northern Ireland.

For more than a week, protests have descended into mayhem in Belfast and other parts of the country, as the stress of the pandemic, coupled with Britain's exit from Europe, have punctured the peace established 23 years ago.

The strife has exposed the delicate nature of the truce among a largely Catholic side that believes the territory should be part of Ireland, and a mostly Protestant side of British loyalists. Rioters, such as those above in Belfast on Wednesday, have thrown gasoline bombs at the police and set buses on fire, and scores of police officers have been wounded.

While no one expects that the violence will escalate to levels seen during The Troubles, leaders on all sides fear the onset of a cycle of revenge attacks.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

8. Meet Hideki Matsuyama, Japan's reluctant superstar golfer.

Shy and obsessed with his game, Mr. Matsuyama generally avoids the spotlight. He sometimes caps off a major tournament appearance with hours of work on his swing.

But his status skyrocketed at the Masters on Sunday after he became the first Japanese man to win a major golf tournament, fulfilling a long-held goal for the country of avid golfers.

"It's a very moving moment for all of us," said the secretary-general of the Japan Golf Association. "I think a lot of people cried when he finished."

Melanie Schiff, via S.R. STUDIO, L.A., CA.

9. The theme for the next two Met Galas is American style.

After a year that many of us spent in sweatpants, the exhibitions will seek to boost a bruised fashion industry while reflecting on what it means to be American today, and the country's efforts to grapple with racism. Above, Sterling Ruby's "Veil Flag."

The first show, coming in September, will focus on contemporary designers. The second, in May 2022, will be held in 21 rooms each visualized by a different film director. Tom Ford and Amanda Gorman are rumored to be hosts for the September event.

Antibody

10. And finally, a celebration of friendship.

Old friends. New friends. Party friends and work friends. T Magazine's Culture issue focuses on the special bonds that we rely on, and how the past year has changed them.

We also spoke to actors, musicians and others about their meaningful connections. Read five essays on the relationships that define their lives, and perhaps our own.

Have a friendly evening.

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