BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn (AP) – Prosecutors are expected to decide on Wednesday whether they charged a white former police officer who fatally shot a black man during a traffic stop in a suburb of Minneapolis, which sparked nights of protests and tension escalated amid the nearby murder trial. of the former officer charged with the murder of George Floyd.
Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon resigned Tuesday, two days after Potter shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Gannon said he believed Potter mistakenly grabbed her gun when she tried to pull out her Taser.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott told a news conference that after the dismissal of Potter, a 26-year-old veteran, the city decided to fire him. Elliott said he hopes her resignation will bring some calm to the community, but that he will continue to work on ‘full accountability under the law’.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput told WCCO-AM that he had received information about the case from state investigators and hoped to have an indictment on Wednesday. Orput did not respond to a message from The Associated Press. While the shooting was taking place in Hennepin County, prosecutors were referring the case to nearby Washington County – a Minneapolis-based practice attorney who was arrested last year in dealing with lethal force cases.
“We must see to it that justice is served and that justice is done. Daunte Wright deserves it. His family deserves it, “said Elliott.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Tuesday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck from the Brooklyn Center’s heavily guarded police headquarters, now surrounded by concrete barricades and a high-rise metal fence. soldiers of the national guard stood guard.
About 90 minutes before an evening clock at 22:00, the state police announced with a loudspeaker that the event had been declared illegal and ordered the crowd to disperse. It quickly sparked confrontations, with protesters launching fireworks at the station and throwing objects at police, launching lightning and gas grenades, and then marching in a row to force the crowd back.
“You are hereby ordered to disperse,” authorities announced, warning that anyone who did not leave would be arrested. State police said the distribution order came before the curfew because protesters were trying to take down the fence and throw stones at police. The number of protesters dropped rapidly over the next hour until only a few remained. Police also ordered all media to leave the scene.
Gannon said he believed Potter mistakenly grabbed her gun when she went to her Taser. But protesters and Wright’s family members say the shooting shows how the justice system was tilted against black people, and note Wright was stopped due to a dilapidated car registration and eventually died.
Brooklyn Center, a suburb just north of Minneapolis, has dramatically changed its racial demographics over the past few years. In 2000, more than 70% of the city was white. Today, the majority of residents are black, Asian or Hispanic.
Elliott said he did not have information about the racial diversity of the police, but that “we have very few colored people in our department.”
After the Wright was stopped for the expired license plates, police tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. The warrant was that he did not appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and had a gun without a permit during a meeting with police in Minneapolis in June.
Camera footage released Monday shows Wright struggling with police when Potter shouts, ‘I’ll chase you! I will pursue you! Taser! Taser! Taser! She pulled out her weapon after the man broke free from the police and got back into the car.
After the car fires a single shot, the car drives away, and Potter says, ‘Holy (explicit)! I shot him. ”
According to the medical examiner, Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest.
Demonstrations began within hours.
In her resignation letter of one paragraph, Potter said: ‘I loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department , and my fellow officers if I resign immediately. ”
Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he rejected the statement that Potter had mistaken her gun for her Taser.
“I lost my son. He never comes back. I can not accept it. An error? It does not even sound right. This officer has been running for 26 years. I can not accept that, “he said.
Ben Crump, the Wright family’s lawyer, spoke outside the courthouse in Minneapolis where Derek Chauvin, fired police officer, is on trial in Floyd’s death.. Crump compared Wright’s death to that of Floyd, who was pinned down by police when they tried to arrest him for allegedly passing a counterfeit $ 20 at a neighborhood market in May last year.
Daunte Wright “was no threat to them,” Crump said. “Was that the best decision? No. But young people do not always make the best decisions. As his mother said, he was scared. ”
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Tim Sullivan in Brooklyn Center contributed to this report.
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Mohamed Ibrahim is a corps member of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national service program that puts journalists in local newsrooms to report on national issues.
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Find AP’s full coverage of Daunte Wright’s death at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-daunte-wright