Al Sharpton Delivers Daunte Wright Eulogy, Funeral Features Powerful Words & Performances

Rev. Al Sharpton's eulogy for Daunte Wright -- the 20-year-old father who was killed by police during a traffic stop -- was a testament to a commitment to justice in response to people of color continuing to die at the hands of police in America.

Al, who referred to Wright as the Prince of Brooklyn Center, used analogies of air fresheners and expired tags -- the alleged reasons why Daunte was pulled over by police in the first place -- to rebuke police brutality and racism in the country.

Sharpton suggested the tide is turning though, and said the large turnout for Wright shows people have had enough of the long line of Black men taken too soon ... but he's hopeful real change is coming, and Daunte will not have died in vain.

Before the eulogy, Ben Crump spoke and gave shout-outs to other families of Black men killed by police in attendance to support Wright's family ... including members from the families of Emmett Till, Oscar Grant, Philando Castile, Jamar Clark and George Floyd. Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, is also at the funeral.

Then Crump introduced Wright's family members, who came up to reflect on their memories of Daunte ... who his siblings called the "life of the party" and said everybody loved.

Wright's parents, Katie and Aubrey, fought through tears as they spoke on how much they are going to miss him ... and Katie described how much Daunte loved his young son and was looking forward to their future together. It was heartbreaking.

Wright's funeral began with a reading of scripture, followed by a powerful prayer by Pastor Carmen Means. Means said, "There's joy and there's pain, there's loss and there's gain," and told the crowd they experienced the God of justice this week with the guilty verdict on April 20 ... praying justice would be served for Daunte as well.

After an emotional song that brought tears to the eyes of Daunte's loved ones, the audience witnessed an amazing piece of performance art by jazz musician Keyon Harrold and an artist who painted an incredible photo of Wright live on stage as Harrold trumpeted.

Harrold, you may recall, is the father of 14-year-old Keyon Jr., who was attacked in late 2020 by Miya Ponsetto in an NYC hotel when she falsely accused him of stealing her phone.

Daunte's funeral was held at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis ... 11 days after he was killed in the nearby city of Brooklyn Center.

His wake was held Wednesday, where Trahern Pollard -- a member of the anti-violence group We Push For Peace -- said of Wright's death ... "It's sad, man, especially right after the verdicts of the trial, that we have to go right into another moment like this."

Pollard, of course, was referring to the guilty verdicts for Derek Chauvin ... the ex-cop convicted Tuesday of murdering George Floyd nearly a year ago.

Nine days before the verdicts, on April 11, Wright was fatally shot by police officer Kim Potter just about 10 miles away from the courthouse where Chauvin was standing trial.

Potter claims she meant to use her Taser as he tried to get back in his car, but fired her gun instead. She resigned from the force soon afterward, and was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter.

As we told you ... Daunte's family is hopeful they will get justice for his killing -- especially on the heels of Chauvin being found guilty -- but today they continue mourning.