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George Floyd's girlfriend Courteney Ross was Daunte Wright's high school teacher

Apr 14, 2021, 09:50 IST
Insider
A display of candles and flowers spells the name of Daunte Wright at a protest over his death on April 12, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.David Ryder/Getty Images
  • Daunte Wright's aunt has revealed new "connections" with George Floyd's family.
  • Floyd's girlfriend Courteney Ross taught Wright at the Edison High School in Minneapolis.
  • The two families met on Tuesday, two days after Wright was shot dead at a traffic stop.
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The families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright - two black men, both fathers, who both died at the hands of Minnesota police officers - have discovered a deeper connection.

Naisha Wright revealed at a press conference that George Floyd's girlfriend Courteney Ross had once taught her nephew Daunte when he was a student at the Edison High School in Minneapolis.

"The craziest thing is to find out today that my family has connections to this man, to this family. His girlfriend was a teacher for my nephew," Naisha Wright said.

Wright, 20, was shot and killed at a traffic stop by Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Minneapolis police force, who said she intended to pull out her taser instead of her handgun. His killing took place just 10 miles from where the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes, is ongoing.

Protests have since erupted across Minnesota in the two days after Wright's death, as people poured into the streets to speak out against police brutality.

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Both Potter and police chief Tim Gannon have resigned.

As Naisha Wright spoke she pointed to her shirt, which was emblazoned with a picture of Floyd with a mask over his mouth that said "I can't breathe."

"My nephew was 20 years old … he was loved. He was ours, he came from us. My nephew's blood is on your hands," Naisha Wright said.

Ross also confirmed her connection to Daunte Wright to the Washington Post, saying that she remembered him as a "silly boy, as goofy as can be," who "needed a lot of love."

She was in a relationship with Floyd for three years after they met in August 2017. She was among prosecution witnesses who took the stand last week to testify against Chauvin.

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Ross told the Post she last saw Wright when she was walking through Brooklyn Center with Floyd in 2019 and that Wright had attended Edison High while she was working as a dean there.

"Students like Daunte needed more resources but they never got more resources," Ross said to the Washington Post.

"Our system doesn't serve kids like Daunte. And now I'm seeing, more than ever, this system I once believed in, we're done doing what we need to be doing to protect Black life."

Floyd's family met Wright's for the first time on Tuesday, before a news conference called by attorney Ben Crump, who is representing both families.

Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd told CBS that his family would "stand in support" of them.

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"The world is traumatized ... Police officers are killing us, and we are being murdered at a rate I cannot imagine," Floyd said. "We're here and we will fight for justice for this family, just like we're fighting for our brother. There's a time for change, and that time is now."

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