Apr 15, 2021
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) A prosecutor said Wednesday that he charged 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 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 last 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 Blacks, noting Wright was stopped for expired car registration and ended
What we know: Ex-officer Kim Potter released on $100,000 bond, faces second-degree manslaughter charge in Daunte Wright s death Ryan W. Miller and Eric Ferkenhoff, USA TODAY
Protests break out in Minnesota after a Black man was shot by police during a traffic stop
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BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. – Kim Potter, the officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright at a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb, is a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department.
Potter was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree manslaughter, officials said. Washington County Attorney Pete Orput issued a news release with details from the criminal complaint.
Stephen Groves
Fencing and concrete barriers surround the home of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter as local police guard her residence, Wednesday, April 14, 2021, in Champlin, Minn. A prosecutor said Wednesday that he will charge Potter, 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. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) April 14, 2021 - 5:30 PM
In a matter of days, the white police officer who fatally shot a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb went from being a respected professional who trained less experienced colleagues and led the department s union, to a criminal defendant held up by community activists as a symbol of police aggression toward Black people.