Ex-officer charged
2nd-degree manslaughter case filed in death of Black motorist.
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — A prosecutor said Wednesday that he charged a white former suburban Minneapolis police officer with second-degree manslaughter in the killing of 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright in a shooting that ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police.
The charge against former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter was filed Wednesday, three days after Wright was killed during a traffic stop and as the nearby murder trial progresses for the ex-officer charged with killing George
Floyd in May, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said.
The former Brooklyn Center police chief has said that Potter, a 26-year veteran and training officer, intended to use her Taser on Wright but fired her handgun instead. However, protesters and Wright’s family members say there’s no excuse for the shooting and that it shows how the justice system is tilted against Black residents, noting Wright was stopped for expired car registration and ended up dead.
“Certain occupations carry an immense responsibility and none more so than a sworn police officer,” Imran Ali, Washington County assistant criminal division chief, said in a statement announcing the charge. “[Potter’s] action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable.”
Ali said he and Orput met with Wright’s family members and assured them that no resources would be spared in prosecuting the case.
Intent isn’t a necessary component of second-degree manslaughter in Minnesota. The charge — which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison — can be applied in circumstances where a person is suspected of causing a death by “culpable negligence” that creates an unreasonable risk and consciously takes chances to cause the death of a person.
Potter posted $100,000 bond Wednesday evening and was released from the Hennepin County jail, online records showed. She was scheduled to make her initial court appearance today. Her attorney did not respond to messages seeking comment. Potter, 48, and Police Chief Tim Gannon both resigned Tuesday.
Concrete barricades and tall metal fencing had been set up around Potter’s home in Champlin, north of Brooklyn Center, with police cars guarding the driveway. After Floyd’s death last year, protesters demonstrated several times at the home of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer now on trial in Floyd’s death.
Police say Wright was pulled over for expired tags Sunday, but they sought to arrest him after discovering he had an outstanding warrant. The warrant was for his failure to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June.
Body camera video that Gannon released Monday shows Potter approaching Wright as he stands outside his car as another officer is arresting him.
As Wright struggles with police, Potter shouts, “I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” before firing a single shot from a handgun in her right hand.
The news release announcing the charge noted that Potter holstered her handgun on the right side and her Taser on the left. The handles of each weapon faced to Potter’s rear. The Taser is yellow with a black grip and would require Potter to remove it from her holster with her left hand, the county attorney’s statement said.
Wright family attorney Ben Crump said the family appreciates the criminal case, but he again disputed that the shooting was accidental, arguing that an experienced officer knows the difference between a Taser and a handgun.
“Kim Potter executed Daunte for what amounts to no more than a minor traffic infraction and a misdemeanor warrant,” he said.
Experts say cases of officers mistakenly firing their guns instead of a stun gun are rare.
Transit officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison after responding to a fight at a train station in Oakland, Calif., killing 22-year-old Oscar Grant in 2009. Mehserle testified at trial that he mistakenly pulled his .40-caliber handgun instead of his stun gun.
In Oklahoma, a white volunteer sheriff’s deputy for Tulsa County, Robert Bates, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter after accidentally firing his handgun when he meant to deploy his stun gun on Eric Harris, a Black man who was being held down by other officers in 2015.
Potter was an instructor with Brooklyn Center police, according to the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association. She was training two other officers when they stopped Wright, the association’s leader, Brian Peters, told the Star Tribune.
Brooklyn Center announced a curfew of 10 p.m. Wednesday — the fourth night in a row that the city has taken that action. Mayor Mike Elliott urged people to protest without violence, saying “your voices have been heard.”