Trevor Noah joined the legion of people who are dumbfounded by the excuse Minneapolis police have given for Daunte Wright’s April 11 death, saying the officer who shot and killed the Black man meant to reach for her taser and instead grabbed her gun.
“You have got to be f—ing kidding me,” Noah said on Monday’s “Daily Show.” “A man was killed at a traffic stop because the police officer mixed up their gun and their taser. Is that even supposed to be a legitimate excuse? Like, we’re supposed to watch that and go, ‘Ah, OK, one time I used sugar instead of salt so I can relate.’ Look, I’m not saying that tragic mistakes will never happen, but what I am saying is that maybe if the police weren’t so quick to draw any weapon then maybe people wouldn’t die because of a mixup from Officer Urkel over here.”
He added: “And by the way, don’t you find it amazing that cops think everything is a gun – except their own gun? If you have a cellphone in your hand, ‘Oh, that’s a gun!’ If you’re holding a wallet, ‘Oh, that’s a gun!’ Their own gun? No, not a gun, not a gun. And even if it was ‘just a mistake’ that is not a mistake you just forgive and walk away, especially since you know the people jumping to her defense for using a gun instead of a taser, those are the same people who want their waiter fired for bringing them a regular Coke instead of a diet.”
While protests continue in Minneapolis in the wake of Wright’s death, which happened amid the trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin for the charges brought against him for the death of Black man George Floyd, Noah was also focused on a new video making the rounds on social media showing Army lieutenant Caron Nazario, who is Black and Latino, in uniform getting pepper sprayed by Virginia police.
“And don’t forget, this is how cops treated one of the troops. The troops,” Noah said. “While he was wearing his uniform, not a hoodie, not baggy pants. So what’s the excuse this time? I mean, if a Black man in military uniform can’t get humane treatment from the police, then what chance does every other Black person in America have? At this point, Black people should just start singing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ when they get pulled over, then maybe, just maybe, the cops will be like, ‘Well, I don’t want to pepper spray the anthem, what do I do?’”
He added: “They don’t care if you’re a member of the military. They don’t care if you’re a beloved member of the community. They don’t care if you’re recording them. S–t, they don’t even care if they’re recording themselves. And the reason they don’t care is because they know that they’re going to get away with this. And until that changes, they are just going to keep not caring.”
Watch the full segment above.