Wright’s mother demands stiffer charge for ex-cop

Daunte Wright’s family members joined with community leaders yesterday in calling for more serious charges against a white police officer in Mr Wright’s death, comparing her case to the murder charge brought against a black officer who killed a white woman in nearby Minneapolis.

Former Brooklyn Centre police Officer Kim Potter was charged with second-degree manslaughter in last Sunday’s shooting of Wright, a 20-year-old black man, during a traffic stop.

The former police chief in Brooklyn Centre, a majority non-white suburb, said Ms Potter mistakenly fired her handgun when she meant to use her Taser.

Both the chief and Ms Potter resigned on Tuesday.

Ms Potter – who was released on $100,000 bond hours after her arrest on Wednesday – appeared alongside her lawyer, Earl Gray, at her initial appearance yesterday over Zoom, saying very little. Her next court appearance was set for May 17.

Mr Wright’s family members say there’s no excuse for the shooting and want Ms Potter to face more serious charges.

“Unfortunately, there’s never going to be justice for us,” Mr Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, said yesterday. “Justice isn’t even a word to me. I do want accountability.”

Wright family attorney Ben Crump said “full accountability, to get equal justice” is all the family wants – “nothing more, nothing less”.

Mr Crump and other advocates for Wright point to the 2017 case of Mohamed Noor.

The black former Minneapolis police officer fatally shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a white woman  in the alley behind her home after she called 911 to report what she thought was a woman being assaulted.

Noor was convicted of third-degree murder in addition to second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison.

Ms Potter’s charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

Noor testified that he fired to protect his partner’s life after hearing a loud bang on the squad car and seeing a woman at his partner’s window raising her arm. Prosecutors criticised Noor for shooting without seeing a weapon or Ms Damond’s hands.

Ms Potter could have easily been charged with third-degree murder, which carries a 25-year maximum sentence, said Rachel Moran, a law professor at the University of St Thomas in St Paul.

But she noted that one difference between the Noor and Potter cases is that Ms Potter will likely argue using the gun was a mistake, while Noor never said he didn’t intend to use his weapon.

Mr Wright’s death came as the broader Minneapolis area awaits the outcome of the trial for Derek Chauvin, one of four officers charged in George Floyd’s death.

Online Editors