Even as the country is in the thick of the Derek Chauvin murder trial, the police-involved killing that took the life of George Floyd, yet in another part of the same town, another Black man has been murdered by a cop.
Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old father of one was shot and killed on Sunday, April 11th in Minneapolis after a random traffic stop by Officer Kimberly Potter of the Brooklyn Center Police department, ironically 10 miles from the courthouse where Chauvin is being tried for Floyd’s death.
Both former officers Potter and Chauvin (the first white cop in Minnesota to be charged for a Black person’s death) are sure to be compared in the media for the shooting death of two African American males.
It took four days for Chauvin to be arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, Potter was taken into custody in three days, after days of civil unrest (similarly to the Floyd/Chauvin murder).
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) arrested Potter on Wednesday, April 14th at 11:30 am CST.
However, the arrest was not before she and the current police chief resigned their posts. Potter had already served 26 years on the force.
Potter, a 48-year-old mother, was booked into the Hennepin County Jail and charged with second-degree manslaughter. Should the courts find her guilty, she could serve up to 20-year-old and have a fine of $20,000.
She contends that the death was an accident, stating that she confused her gun for her taser.
But the Wright family’s attorney believes differently; Ben Crump submits that it was an execution.
As this story is developing, the Wright family is planning a funeral and gearing up to pursue justice.