Officer charged over shooting
BROOKLYN CENTER: Minnesota authorities yesterday arrested the police officer who fatally shot a black man during a scuffle that followed a routine traffic stop and said they would charge her with seconddegree manslaughter.
Kim Potter, a 26year veteran who resigned from the Brooklyn Center police force on Wednesday, has been taken into custody.
The Washington County Attorney's office filed a charge of seconddegree manslaughter.
Wright was shot on Monday after being pulled over for what police said was an expired car registration.
Officers discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest, and Potter accidentally drew her pistol instead of her Taser during a struggle with Wright, who got back into his car, officials said.
In police video of the incident, Potter can be heard shouting, ‘‘
. . . I just shot him.’’
Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon also tendered his resignation on Wednesday.
To convict Potter of seconddegree manslaughter under Minnesota law, prosecutors must show that she was ‘‘culpably negligent’’ and took an ‘‘unreasonable risk’’ in her actions against Wright. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Wright's family, said in a statement on yesterday that the charge fell short of fulfilling a greater need for police reform in the US.
‘‘Driving while Black continues to result in a death sentence,’’ Crump said.
Protesters assembled outside Brooklyn Center's police headquarters for a third night on Wednesday. Officers fired teargas, nonlethal rounds and flashbangs to disperse the crowd. — Reuters