Cop, chief quit after Black motorist’s death
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — A white police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb resigned Tuesday, as did the city’s police chief — moves that the mayor said he hoped would help heal the community and lead to reconciliation after two nights of protests and unrest.
The resignations from officer Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon came two days after the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center. Potter, a 26-year veteran, had been on administrative leave following Sunday’s shooting, which happened as the Minneapolis area was already on edge over the trial of an officer charged in George Floyd’s death.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said he was “appreciative” that Potter submitted her resignation.
A decision on whether prosecutors will charge Potter could come as soon as Wednesday. Meanwhile, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul imposed 10 p.m. curfews. A Brooklyn Center city spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a message on whether the city would have a curfew.
Gannon has said he believed Potter mistakenly grabbed her gun when she was going for her Taser. She can be heard on her body camera video shouting “Taser! Taser!” However, protesters and Wright’s family members say there’s no excuse for the shooting and it shows how the justice system is tilted against Blacks, noting Wright was stopped for expired car registration and ended up dead.
Elliott said at a news conference that the city had been moving toward firing Potter when she resigned. He said he hoped her resignation would “bring some calm to the community” but that he would keep working toward “full accountability under the law.”
“We have to make sure that justice is served, justice is done. Daunte Wright deserves that; his
family deserves that,” Elliott said.
Wright was stopped for having expired license plates. Police then tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant after he had failed 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 footage released Monday shows Wright struggling with police when Potter shouts, “I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” She draws her weapon after the man breaks free from police outside his car and gets back behind the wheel.
After firing a single shot from her handgun, the car speeds away, and Potter says, “Holy (expletive)! I shot him.”
Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the medical examiner. Protests began within hours. Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he rejects the explanation that Potter mistook her gun for her Taser.
“I lost my son. He’s never coming back. I can’t accept that. A mistake? That doesn’t even sound right. This officer has been on the force for 26 years. I can’t accept that,” he said.
Chyna Whitaker, mother of Daunte’s son, said at a news conference that she felt police “stole my son’s dad from him.”
Prosecutors in Hennepin County, where the shooting occurred, said they have referred the case to nearby Washington County.
Elliott, the mayor, called for the governor to move the case to the attorney general to prosecute.