Police have on Monday identified the officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a weekend traffic stop near Minneapolis as Kim Potter.
Potter has been with Brooklyn Center Police Department for 26 years, Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said in an emailed statement.
BCA expressed that she’s on standard administrative leave, but would not disclose any further details, citing the active investigation into Wright’s death.
Wright, a 20-year-old Black man was shot and killed during a traffic stop just before 2 p.m. Sunday in Brooklyn Center, after officer Potter said she mistook her taser for a gun and fired at him.
He died about 10 miles from where George Floyd, another black man was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last year, sparking protests in the state.
Hennepin County medical examiner said Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest, ruling his death as a homicide.
Less than 24 hours after an officer with the Brooklyn Center Police Department shot and killed Daunte Wright, Police Chief Tim Gannon played an unedited clip of police body camera video showing the fatal incident for the media and members of the community at a City Hall news conference.
Following the news of his death, hundreds of people gathered to protest, and after a night of unrest, including looting, US National Guard was called in and a curfew was declared.
At 6 p.m. local time, an hour before curfew, hundreds of people joined Wright’s family for a vigil held at the site where he was killed.
The crowd remained silent as a trumpeter played “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — often referred to as the “Black national anthem” — and then a minister introduced Wright’s mother, Katie Wright.
Speaking while holding back her tears, Katie stated;
My heart is literally broken into a thousand pieces and I don’t know what to do or what to say. But I just need everybody to know that he is much more than this. I just need everyone to know that he was my life, he was my son and I can never get that back.
He said;
There is absolutely no justification, none, for looting, no justification for violence. Peaceful protests, understandable, and the fact is that, you know, we do know that the anger, pain, and trauma that exists in the Black community in that environment is real, it’s serious and it’s consequential. But it will not justify violence and/or looting. And we should listen to Daunte’s mom, who is calling for peace and calm.
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The shooting further roiled a community already on edge as it awaits a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd. Chauvin’s trial is expected to wrap this week, with closing arguments expected next Monday, the judge in the case said.
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