Former Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer Kim Potter.Photo: Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune via Getty Images
A criminal charge announced Wednesday alleges that a veteran police officer committed manslaughter when she fatally shotDaunte Wright, an unarmed Black 20-year-old man, amidst a traffic stop in a suburb of Minneapolis on Sunday.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensionconfirmed Potter’s arrestWednesday on a charge of second-degree manslaughter.
Potter, 48, a white 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center police force, and Chief Tim Gannon bothresigned from their positionsTuesday, one day after Gannon said it appeared to him that Wright’s shooting was “accidental,” based on officer-worn body camera footage of the incident. Gannon suggested that Potter believed she was reaching for her Taser when she grabbed her gun as it looked like Wright was attempting to flee.
Daunte Wright.
Gannon did not defend Potter’s action. But in releasing the footage at a news conference Monday, he said it appeared that Potter “had the intention to deploy her Taser” when she instead fired a single bullet from her handgun after Wright, 20, shook free during an attempt to handcuff him at a traffic stop and then tried to drive away.
An attorney for the Wright family, Ben Crump, said in a statement responding to the charge: “While we appreciate that the district attorney is pursuing justice for Daunte, no conviction can give the Wright family their loved one back. This was no accident. This was an intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force. Driving while Black continues to result in a death sentence. A 26-year veteran of the force knows the difference between a taser and a firearm.”
An attorney for Potter, Earl Gray, could not immediately be reached. Gray is also representing Thomas Lane, one of three officers along with Chauvin who is charged in connection with Floyd’s death,reports KARE. Lane has pleaded not guilty and is due to be tried later this summer.
In announcing Potter’s resignation on Tuesday, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott, who had called a day earlier for Potter to be fired, said: “She felt that was the right thing for the community, and I couldn’t agree more. We did not ask her to resign. That was a decision she made.”
Hundreds rallied outside the Brooklyn Center, Minn., police department on Tuesday.Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu Agency via Getty
Elliott had wanted the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, which is leading the prosecution of Floyd’s murder, to handle the Wright case. But Mike Freeman, the attorney for Hennepin County — which includes Brooklyn Center — steered it to Washington County under a policy adopted last year to avoid any appearance of conflict or mishandling of local cases that involve alleged misuse of police force, he said in astatement.
In the Floyd case, former Minneapolis officer Chauvin, 44, has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in the death of Floyd, 44, after the white officer held Floyd to the ground for nearly nine minutes May 25 with a knee pinned to Floyd’s neck. Chauvin was fired in the aftermath.
In a statement Tuesday, Obama said, “Our hearts are heavy over yet another shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, at the hands of police.” He wrote on Twitter that he believes it is “important to conduct a full and transparent investigation,” but that Wright’s death “is also a reminder of just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country.”
“We empathize with the pain that Black mothers, fathers, and children are feeling after yet another senseless tragedy,” he said. He added that he and his family “will continue to work with all fair-minded Americans to confront historical inequities and bring about nationwide changes that are so long overdue.”
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“I know my son was scared,” Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, who was on the phone with her son after he was stopped and heard the scuffle,toldGood Morning America. “He’s afraid of the police, and I just seen and heard the fear in his voice.”
As Wright struggled and tried to get back into his vehicle, the video footage shows Potter threatening to use her Taser, then shouting “Taser” several times before discharging her gun.
After she did so, Potter said, “Sh–, I just shot him!,” as Wright’s vehicle sped away for a short distance before striking another car, according to the criminal complaint. He was declared dead at the scene.
“The officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Gannon said Monday, adding that Wright did not have a gun.
He explained that officers are trained to holster their firearm on their dominant side, with the Taser on the other side, and that it appeared Potter had grabbed the wrong weapon.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Crump called the shooting “unacceptable.”
“It was intentional they stopped him, it was intentional they used the most force. They could have given him a ticket,” he said.
Another attorney for the Wright family, Jeff Storms, said: “Don’t tell us it’s an accident, because it undermines the tragic loss of life that this family has experienced.”
source: people.com
