Al Sharpton ‘appalled’ after former officer Kim Potter is release after 16 months for death of Daunte Wright

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Civil rights activist, founder and President of the National Action Network, the Rev. Al Sharpton, called the release of former police officer Kim Potter, who had been sentenced to 16 months in prison after she was found guilty of the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, “an insult to all Americans who believe in justice."

“I am appalled at the release of Kim Potter from prison after serving just 16 months for taking the life of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Her sentence, handed down by Judge Regina Chu, was well below Minnesota’s minimum of six years and significantly less than the maximum of eight years in which the Wright family, Attorney Ben Crump and I had pushed for,” said Sharpton in a statement shared with The Christian Post Monday when Potter was released. “Today’s release of Potter is an insult to all Americans who believe in justice. I delivered the eulogy for Daunte at his funeral, and I’ll repeat what I said then: Potter should face the full extent of the law.”

Potter was sentenced in February 2022 for Wright’s death with the expectation that she would serve 16 months in prison and eight months on supervised release, CP previously reported. It was a sentence that was lower than Minnesota's recommended sentencing guidelines for first-degree manslaughter, which is seven years.

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Judge Chu said, however, there were mitigating factors in the case, calling the fatal shooting a mistake.

"Officer Potter made a mistake that ended tragically," Chu said. "She never intended to hurt anyone. Her conduct cries out for a sentence significantly below the guidelines."

Potter, who was a 26-year police veteran, fatally shot the 20-year-old father during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 11, 2021. During the traffic stop for expired registration tags, officers discovered that Wright had a warrant for his arrest. As an officer attempted to handcuff Wright, a struggle ensured and he got back into his car. 

While Potter and another officer struggled to detain Wright, who was inside his vehicle, Potter shot him with her handgun as she shouted “Taser” multiple times. Wright then drove off and crashed into a vehicle several blocks away. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Potter told investigators that she had intended to deploy her Taser but accidentally drew her handgun instead. 

The day after the shooting, the Hennepin County medical examiner found that Wright had died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Just months after she was sentenced for killing Wright, Potter applied to the Minnesota Board of Pardons for an early release from prison in May 2022, so she could do the work “God has created for me” the Star Tribune reported.

"I have things to offer the community that prison walls don't allow," Potter said in her application. "I am not able to work with domestic abuse victims who need my love, support and knowledge. I am not able to care for the poor and homeless by caring for their daily needs. … Please consider commuting my sentence and sending me into society to continue the work that God has created me for."

Her application was denied in December.

Sharpton argued in his statement that Potter’s “swift release” for Wright’s death shows how the criminal justice system is lenient on officers who don’t do their job well.

“Kim Potter swore an oath to protect and serve her community, a promise that she clearly failed to keep when she murdered Daunte Wright. Her swift release from prison signals to others in our criminal justice system that bad apples will be shown leniency and given special treatment when it comes to their actions while wearing a badge,” he said. “Daunte Wright was a father, a son, and a brother whose life was stolen from him by Kim Potter. Black and brown men deserve to grow old; they deserve to live their lives and they deserve justice when their lives are taken from them. We will not sit idly by and allow nonconsequential actions such as this to endure.”