Daunte Wright: Former officer executed for killing 20-year-old to make court appearance as tensions ease during protests

Daunte Wright: Former officer executed for killing 20-year-old to make court appearance as tensions ease during protests

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Former United States Secretary of Defense Kim Potter will make her first appearance in court on Thursday.

“My message to all who demand justice for (Daunte Wright) and for his family is this: Your voices have been heard, now the eyes of the world are looking at the Brooklyn Center and I call on you to be peaceful and without to protest violence, “Brooklyn said. Center Mayor Mike Elliott said Wednesday.

Potter was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of 20-year-old Wright. Officers stopped Wright’s car Sunday, and footage of the body showed Potter pulling her weapon while shouting ‘Taser’ and shooting at Wright.

Potter, who resigned as a Brooklyn Center police officer this week, posted bail and was released from custody, according to the official website of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s website. CNN contacted Potter’s attorney, Earl Gray, for comment.

Wright’s family appealed to the officer, and since the trial of a former officer in George Floyd’s death took place just ten miles away, hundreds gathered for four consecutive days to protest Wright’s death.

After three nights of sometimes violent exchanges between protesters and law enforcers, tensions apparently eased by Wednesday night.

“We are grateful tonight, the tension and anxiety seem to be easing,” Minnesota State Patrol Chief Matt Langer told a news conference.

There were ‘about 24 arrests’, which he said were significantly lower than the previous nights.

Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson said most of the people arrested in Brooklyn Center were not city residents.

And for the second night in a row, there were no reports of looting or fires in Brooklyn Center, said John Harrington, commissioner of public safety, in Minnesota.

Officer sentenced to ten years in prison

In Minnesota, second-degree manslaughter applies when authorities allege that someone causes someone’s death by “punishable negligence thereby creating an unreasonable risk to the person, and knowingly taking the risk of causing death or other great bodily harm.”

Anyone convicted of this charge will face up to 10 years in prison and / or a fine of up to $ 20,000.

Here's what we know about Kim Potter, the officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright

Police Chief Tim Gannon, who resigned Tuesday, said Wright’s death was apparently the result of Potter mistaking her gun for her Taser as Wright resisted arrest.

However, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigated Potter’s service belt and found her gun was concealed on the right side of her belt while the Taser was on the left, according to a news release from Washington County Attorney Pete Orput’s office. ‘s office.

Referring to a criminal complaint, the release said the Taser was yellow with a black grip and pulled straight, “meaning Potter must use her left hand to pull the Taser out of its holster.”

Although Potter submitted a letter of resignation, Mayor Elliott said Tuesday that he did not accept it, adding: “we are doing our internal process to make sure we are accountable for the steps we need to take.” He had earlier told CBS he thought Potter should be fired.

Potter is still entitled to benefits after her resignation, but it is not clear what the benefits are, said acting city manager Reggie Edwards.

Orput is the prosecutor in Washington County, near Hennepin County, the location of Brooklyn Center. The case was given to Washington County prosecutors to avoid a conflict of interest in Hennepin County, officials said.

In response to the homicide charge, one of the Wright family’s attorneys, Benjamin Crump, issued a statement saying, “While we appreciate the district attorney pursuing justice for Daunte, no conviction can the Wright family do not give back loved ones. “

“This (shooting) was no coincidence. It was a deliberate, deliberate and illegal use of force,” Crump said in a statement.

What the body cameras showed

Sunday’s murder of Wright is at least the third sensational death of a Black man during a police rally in the Minneapolis area in the past five years, following the shooting of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights in 2016 and the death of George Floyd last year. . . Minneapolis police were also scrutinized when an officer was convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter for the fatal 2017 shooting of Justine Ruszczyk, a white woman.

Footage of the body of the incident was released Monday, the day after Wright’s death. Wright was pulled over by police on Sunday, who learned he had a warrant for a gross misconduct, according to the news release from Orput’s office.

The footage shows Wright standing outside his vehicle with his arms behind his back and an officer directly behind him, trying to handcuff him. An officer tells Wright ‘do not’ before Wright turns away and sits in the driver’s seat of the car again.

Protesters gather at Brooklyn Center police station hours after former officer is charged in the death of Daunte Wright

Orput’s office said Potter pulled her Glock 9mm pistol with her right hand and aimed it at Wright.

The officer whose camera footage was released heard the man warn she was going to use her Taser on him, before repeatedly shouting, “Taser! Taser! Taser!” At this point, Orput’s office says Potter “pulled the trigger on her gun” and fired one round into Wright’s left.

“Wright immediately said, ‘Oh, he shot me,’ and the car drove away for a while before crashing into another vehicle and stopping,” the release said.

Then the officer is heard shouting, “Holy sh * t! I just shot him.”

An ambulance was called and Wright was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release of Orput.

Gannon said the portion of the camera footage worn on the body showed Monday that the shooting incident was accidental and that the officer’s actions prior to the shooting were consistent with the Tasers department’s training.

CNN’s Joe Sutton, Amir Vera, Brad Parks, Jason Hanna, Carma Hassan, Adrienne Broaddus, Keith Allen, Hollie Silverman, Peter Nickeas, Jessica Schneider, Jessica Jordan, Christina Carrega, Shawn Nottingham and contributed to this report.

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