Charge for officer: Kim Potter, who resigned after fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, faces manslaughter count.
26-year veteran arrested after death of motorist
CENTER, Minn. – A prosecutor on Wednesday planned to charge a white former suburban Minneapolis police officer with second-degree manslaughter for killing 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 police Officer Kim Potter was to be filed Wednesday, three days after Wright was killed during a traffic stop, 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 stun gun on Wright but fired her handgun instead. 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 Black people, noting Wright was stopped for expired car registration and ended up dead.
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 or consciously takes chances to cause the death of a person.
Potter, 48, was arrested Wednesday morning at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul. Her attorney did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.
Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon resigned Tuesday.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that 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.
Police say Wright was pulled over for expired tags on 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 stood outside of his car as another officer was arresting him.
As Wright struggles with police, Potter shouts, “I’ll tase you! I’ll tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” before firing a SINBROOKLYN gle shot from her handgun.
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 stun gun and a handgun.
“Kim Potter executed Daunte for what amounts to no more than a minor traffic infraction and a misdemeanor warrant,” he said.
Cases of officers mistakenly firing their gun instead of a stun gun do happen, but experts say they are rare, usually less than once a year nationwide.
Police and protesters faced off again after nightfall Tuesday, with hundreds of demonstrators once more gathering at Brooklyn Center’s heavily guarded police headquarters, now ringed by concrete barriers and a tall metal fence, and where police in riot gear and National Guard soldiers stood watch.