Former police officer Kim Potter sentenced for the death of Daunte Wright
A judge has sentenced former Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter to 16 months in prison and eight months of supervised release for the fatal shooting of 20-year-old African American Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in April 2021.
Judge Regina Chu announced the sentence on Friday, with two-thirds of the 24-month sentence served in prison.
During the sentencing hearing, Chu said that the police officer made a “tragic mistake,” and Wright died because Potter was “reckless.” Because of that, “there should be some accountability.”
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“Here, everybody agrees and the evidence is undisputed that Officer Potter never intended to use her firearm,” Chu said.
“She mistakenly withdrew her firearm ... intending to use her taser. There were police officers and experts who testified that the use of a taser was reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances presented for officer safety reasons. The fact she never intended to draw her firearm makes this case less serious than other cases.”
The judge added that the scene was “chaotic, intense and rapidly evolving.”
“Officer Potter was required to make a split-second judgment. That constitutes a mitigating circumstance,” the judge continued. “Office Potter’s actions were not driven by personal animosity towards Daunte Wright.”
Some, among them Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, expressed outrage at the sentence, which is well below the seven years that prosecutors requested.
“Kim Potter murdered my son, and he died April 11. Today the justice system murdered him all over again,” Katie Wright said at a press conference.
She doubted Potter’s claims of remorse, claiming “White woman tears trumped justice.”
Wright said in court that she would never be able to forgive Potter for the death of her son.
At the press conference, Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, said that he felt like the court cared more about Potter’s feelings and “forgot about my son being killed.”
“I feel like we was tricked,” he said. “It’s just sad that ... we actually thought we was going to get a little justice. Nothing will ease our mind that Daunte was killed, but just knowing that this lady was going to pay for that, it gave us a sense of hope that things were going to get a little bit better. But now, I walk out of this courthouse feeling like people are laughing at us because this lady got a slap on the wrist and we still every night sitting around crying and waiting on my son to come home.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison released a statement soon after the decision, imploring people to accept the judgment even if they disagree with the sentence.
“I accept her judgment. I urge everyone to accept her judgment. I don’t ask you to agree with her decision, which takes nothing away from the truth of the jury’s verdict. I know it is hurtful to loved ones of Daunte Wright,” stated Ellison.
“There is no cause for celebration: no one has won. We all have lost, none more than Daunte Wright and the people who love him. None of us ever wanted Kim Potter to recklessly pull the wrong weapon and kill Daunte Wright.”
Ellison encouraged dialogue and the pursuit of solutions to ongoing tensions between police and the black community, adding that he hoped someday that “Potter might also be part of the solution.”
“She could have a profound impact on police officers, departments, and manufacturers about the urgency of ending weapons confusion and saving lives,” he added. “It will be up to her to show that she can do this with true remorse and make true amends. I hope she can.”
Potter fatally shot Wright during a traffic stop last April. When the 20-year-old resisted arrest, Potter claimed she thought she was using a taser on Wright but accidentally grabbed her gun.
Video footage of the tragic incident showed Potter shouting “taser” before she fired, then being surprised when she realized that she had shot the young man instead. Potter resigned from the police force, as did Police Chief Tim Gannon.
Many critics, however, don’t accept Potter’s reasoning and viewed the deadly incident as further evidence of systemic racism within American law enforcement.
“Because of the fear of black people, law enforcement officers overreact and kill us unnecessarily,” wrote Hillsong Atlanta Pastor Sam Collier. “THIS IS A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED AND CHANGED.”
Potter, who said during the trial that she “didn’t want to hurt anybody,” was found guilty of manslaughter by a mostly white jury shortly before Christmas.
