Officer “intended to use Taser”

The police officer who killed an unarmed Black man at a traffic stop Sunday did not intend to use a traditional handgun, according to the chief of police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

According to the Associated Press, Chief Tim Gannon said that the officer grabbed for a Taser electronic stun gun as Daunte Wright sought to get away from police. She shouted “I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” but instead drew a pistol and fatally shot the 20-year-old man.

Police were seeking to arrest Wright for an outstanding warrant. The shot struck him in the chest, his car sped away and crashed. “Holy [expletive]! I shot him,” the officer says on body cam footage showed at a news conference in this suburban city near Minneapolis.

The incident has led to protests and some violence. Minnesota National Guard troops are on duty across the area. Sunday’s fatal shooting comes as the trial continues in Minneapolis of the former police officer charged with the murder of another Black man in May 2020.

Business: A big year for snack food

Good times and bad times each have their winners and losers, and a year of the coronavirus pandemic has been a boon to the snack industry. Reuters news service is reporting that Frito-Lay (owned by Pepsico)­ – the makers of a wide variety of snack foods – saw a 5.4 percent increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2021.

The sale of “savory” treats such as chips and pretzels rose by 11 percent in 2020, according to a trade association and many Americans stayed home and relieved their anxieties with sweet and salty treats.

Wall Street slumps: After a week of big gains, the investment community saw retreats on Monday.  All three major stock indexes dipped. Dow Jones was down 55.20 points to close at 33,745.40. The S&P 500 declined 0.81 points to 4,127.99 and Nasdaq fell 50.11 points to 13,850.00.

Sports: Protests, violence roil schedules

Street demonstrations and violence in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota have led to the cancellation or rescheduling of games by the Minnesota Wild hockey team, the Minnesota Twins baseball team and the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball teams. Some games may be played on Tuesday, depending on conditions in the state. The shooting of a Black man in Brooklyn Center by police (see story above) has led to disorder in that city and in nearby Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Tuesday sports results:

• New York Knicks 111, Lakers 96. Dennis Schroder scored 21 points to lead the Lakers, whose record fell to 33-21, fifth in the Western Conference
• Angels 10, Kansas City Royals 3: The Halos took first place all alone with this win on the road. The Halos (7-3) benefitted from the Houston Astros’ 6-2 loss to Detroit. Shohei Ohtani led the hit parade for the Angels, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a double. Mike Trout hit his fourth homer of the season. The win went to Alex Cobb (1-0), who worked 5.2 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out 10 batters while walking just one.
• Las Vegas Golden Knights 4, Kings 2: The LA team got an early two-goal lead on tallies by Austin Wagner and Anze Kopitar, but were outscored 4-0 the rest of the way. The team record is now 16-19-6.
• Ducks 4, San Jose Sharks 0:. Max Comtois, Alexander Volkov (two) and Rickard Rakell have each scored for Anaheim.

Weather:  Sweater weather until Friday

The forecast for the West Orange County area is for daytime highs in the mid-60s through Thursday, along with mostly or party cloudy skies. Things will warm up on Friday to 72 and head into the mid-80s next week. For the coastal Huntington Beach area, expect daytime highs to be two to four degrees cooler.