Last Sunday on April 11th, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot and killed by former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter. Wright was initially pulled over due to having air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror, when the police officers also discovered a misdemeanor warrant for which they tried to detain him. When Wright went back into his vehicle, Kim Potter was heard shouting “Taser!”: except, she never pointed a taser at him. She pointed a gun at him instead and fatally shot him. Let it sink in that this all happened just 10 miles away from the location where George Floyd was killed in May 2020.
Two days later on Tuesday, the city’s police chief resigned, along with Kim Potter as she believed it was “in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if [she resigned] immediately.” There was no mention of Wright in her reason for resigning. Justifiably, Wright’s killing by Kim Potter sparked a substantial amount of protest, mourning, grief, and panic. People demanded justice and were filled with anger, especially towards police officials who believed the incident was an innocent mistake. After all, how does someone “confuse” a lighter weight, plastic bright yellow Taser with a heavier, dark metal handgun? Specifically, how does an officer with 26 years of training and experience, who has also trained various other officers, make such a fatal, costly “mistake”?
While in most cases, officers have not faced criminal charges for claiming they mistook their gun for a Taser, Kim Potter is being charged with second-degree manslaughter by the Washington County Attorney’s Office. To give context, the definition of second-degree manslaughter is when someone “causes the death of another by the person’s culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another'' (mahoningmatters.com). With this charge, Kim Potter could be facing a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. On Wednesday, Potter was arrested but then released later the same day after posting a $100,000 bond (npr.org). The next day, she made a court appearance on a brief Zoom call with defense attorney Earl Gray representing her. This case has been formally assigned to Regina Chu, Hennepin County Judge, and May 17th marks Potter’s next scheduled court appearance.
In my opinion, what happened to Daunte Wright is absolutely appalling. I think Kim Potter definitely knew what she was doing in pulling out a gun instead of a taser on Wright and that justice needs to be served. It breaks my heart that Daunte Wright’s 2-year-old son is going to grow up without a father and never be able to play basketball or go to the park with him again. I cannot even imagine all the stress now on the mother and the Wright family. This racism and injustice need to end. We are all human and we all bleed the same blood. I seriously wish this hatred would stop, and I truly hope that the circumstances improve over time. For now, all we can do is educate ourselves, speak out, donate resources and money to these grieving, struggling families, and try to spread more love in the world. Let me know your thoughts about all of this in the comments.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/daunte-wright-killing-chyna-whitaker-speaks-out/
https://apnews.com/article/daunte-wright-shooting-minnesota-f70fb7fc4c205740507b7c53d7315f0
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/daunte-wright-police-shooting-minneapolis-1154900/
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/15/987795222/officer-who-killed-daunte-wright-makes-first-court-appearance-in-manslaughter-ca
Hi Dori, I definitely think that what happened to Daunte Wright was terrible. I can't speak to the intent of the female officer, but what happened should have and could have been avoided. The trial will determine if there was any malice involved in this situation, but I am curious as to why you think that the reason that Daunte Wright was shot was because of racism? It may be that the cop was racist, but right now we don't even know if there was even malice intent involved. And if there was malice intent, which will be determined in the trial, we also still don't know if the intent behind the killing was racism. Again, I am not defending the actions of the cop, and I think that if the cop is found guilty, then she should go to jail for however long the crime she is found guilty for entitles, but I don't think that we should jump to conclusions that fast, before we have all of the information.
ReplyDeleteHi Isaac, thank you for sharing your opinion. I agree that right now I cannot say with 100% certainty that the officer had malice intent and was racist. This is just my opinion based on the information I currently know of. For instance, according to the police, Daunte Wright was pulled over for having an expired tag, and during this circumstance, it was discovered that there was a warrant for his arrest. Neither of those factors requires either a taser or a gun to be drawn, and Daunte Wright was unarmed. The use of lethal force should be an absolute last resort, rather than a first action, especially when the person being detained is unarmed. Research also indicates that police officers will often doubt the intentions of an African-American and become initially defensive, more so than they would if the person being detained is Caucasian. This brings up the question of whether a taser or gun would be used on a Caucasian male in this type of circumstance?
DeleteAlso, there were three police officers at the scene who could have worked together to physically resolve this situation without lethal force. The tragic outcome appeared rapidly instigated by a 26-year police veteran, Kim Potter. Having trained numerous police officers, she knew the protocols clearly and was well aware that this circumstance did not require lethal force. This once again brings up the question as to why lethal force was used on an African-American male who was unarmed and could be physically detained by three officers? Kim Potter knew that a taser is carried on the non-dominant side of the body and a gun is carried on the dominant side. Daunte Wright was not attacking anyone, so she had enough time to make a reasoned decision about her actions with protocols in mind. It is very puzzling why a 26-year veteran who was well aware of where a taser is carried and where a gun is carried would make such an error with lethal consequences.
Sources:
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/criminal_justice/publications/criminal-justice-magazine/2020/winter/racial-profiling-past-present-and-future/
https://journalistsresource.org/criminal-justice/police-reasonable-force-brutality-race-research-review-statistics/
https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/images/press/docs/pdf/ASARaceCrime.pdf
https://gspp.berkeley.edu/assets/uploads/research/pdf/SpencerCharbonneauGlaser.Compass.2016.pdf