Daunte Wright.
Jury selection in the trial of a police officer who fatally shot a Black man,Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop begins today, focusing attention on Minnesota just eight months after the conviction of another officer for the murder ofGeorge Floyd.
Charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter, Potter has entered a plea of not guilty.
Two weeks of testimony in the trial of former Minneapolis police officerDerek Chauvinfor Floyd’s murder were complete, with another week to go, when Potter shot Wright on April 11. Like Floyd’s murder, which led to demonstrations across the country against police brutality and racial injustice, Wright’s shooting sent demonstrators into the streets locally for several nights, resulting in clashes with police and multiple arrests.
Chauvin eventually wasconvicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and manslaughterof Floyd, who died in police custody while prone and facedown in handcuffs with Chauvin’s knee to his neck for more than nine minutes.
As the unarmed Wright did so, “the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Gannon said at anews conferenceafter the shooting.
Wright was struck in the chest. His vehicle then traveled several blocks before crashing into another car, and he died at the scene.
Former Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer Kim Potter.Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune via Getty Images
The police chief said that although Wright had been pulled over only for expired tags, he gave his ID to an officer who then ran a check on it and discovered an outstanding firearms warrant for Wright, which the chief described as a “gross misdemeanor” that led to Wright’s attempted arrest.
Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center police force,resigned in the wake of Wright’s shooting. Police chief Gannon resigned as well.
In filing theoriginal criminal charge of second-degree manslaughter, Imran Ali, assistant criminal division chief in the Washington County Attorney’s Office, said that Potter “abrogated her responsibility to protect the public when she used her firearm rather than her Taser.” He added: “Her action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable.”
Since then, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office has overtaken the prosecution, as it did with the prosecution of Chauvin for Floyd’s murder.
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Prosecutors say they intend to show that Potter knew the difference between her Taser and a firearm.
In an Oct. 1 court filing, prosecutors said that for at least five years prior to the shooting, Potter wore her Taser on the same side of her duty belt as she did last April, and on four previous incidents, she drew her Taser properly, even firing it twice, reportsMinnesota Public Radio.
“These incidents are relevant to show [Potter’s] proper application of her training regarding the use of a Taser and her knowledge of how to safely and properly draw her Taser,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank.
Kim Potter, in her mugshot.Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock
Wright’s family and other activists had demanded that Potter be charged with murder. After the more serious charge of first-degree manslaughter was added in September, attorneys for Wright’s family issued a statement saying: “No reasonable officer could confuse their sidearm for a Taser. Kimberly Potter’s killing of Daunte Wright was not a mere accident.”
She recalled the premature birth of Wright’s son, Daunte Wright Jr. “He was so happy and so proud,” she said. “And he always said he couldn’t wait to make his son proud. Junior was the joy of his life. And he lived for him every single day.”
source: people.com
