Update 04/14/2021 9:26pm:
Now-disgraced former police officer Kim Potter's mugshot was released on Wednesday after she was charged in the shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Potter was formally charged with second-degree manslaughter and arrested on Wednesday. She was reportedly released after posting a $100,000 bond.
Original 04/14/2021 1:28pm:
A prosecutor announced on Wednesday that the White officer who fatally shot a Black 20-year-old male, after appearing to mistake her handgun for her Taser, will be charged with second-degree manslaughter.
The announcement of the planned charge against Kim Potter came a day after she and the police chief resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state agency that investigates police killings in Minnesota, revealed that Potter was arrested Wednesday morning and would be booked into the Hennepin County Jail.
"While we appreciate that the district attorney is pursuing justice for Daunte, no conviction can give the Wright family their loved one back," said Ben Crump, the Wright family's attorney. "This was no accident. This was an intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force."
Potter's arrest occurred after three nights of protests over the killing. The 48-year-old was an officer for 26 years and was training other officers on Sunday afternoon when Daunte Wright was pulled over for expired registration on his car and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.
Once it was discovered that Wright had a warrant out for his arrest, officers attempted to arrest him but he twisted away and got back into his car. Potter warned that she would tase him and shouted "Taser!" three times before firing her gun and killing him with a single shot to the chest.
Kim Potter faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if charged and convicted.
Source: The New York Times
