A man raises his fist as he confronts Minnesota state soldiers guarding the Brooklyn Center police station after a police officer shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 12, 2021.
Kerem Yucel | AFP | Getty Images
Minnesota police officer Kim Potter resigned Tuesday, two days after fatally shooting Daunte Wright, an unarmed black man fleeing a traffic stop.
Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon also resigned Tuesday, a day after revealing that Potter shot Wright with the mistaken belief he had a Taser and not his pistol.
Potter wrote that he quit smoking after 26 years at the Brooklyn Center PD despite his love of being a police officer because “I think it’s in the best interest of the community, the department and my fellow officers if I quit immediately,” according to a letter posted on Twitter by various media outlets.
His resignation came when Vice President Kamala Harris said Wright “should be alive today” as demands for police reform grew in the wake of the latest controversial murder of a black man by police. Minnesota.
Harris also said there should be “justice and healing” for Wright’s death and that “law enforcement must meet the highest standards of accountability.”
Former President Barack Obama said his heart and Michelle Obama “are heavy” over Wright’s death.
Obama also argued that the recent death of a black man at the hands of police highlights the need to “reimagine the police” in the United States.
Wright, 20, was driving an SUV when police stopped her Sunday afternoon for expiring license plates and an air freshener hung in the rearview mirror.
Police moved to arrest Wright on a pending warrant for not appearing in court in a criminal case, where he was charged with carrying a weapon without permission, as well as fleeing police in June.
Activist Jonathan Mason holds a Daunte Wright poster in front of the crowd of protesters who gathered to protest the police murder of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, USA, on April 13, 2021.
Christopher Mark Juhn | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The video from Potter’s body camera shows Wright pulling away and getting into his car when another police officer tried to handcuff him.
Potter fired a single shot at Wright’s chest with his pistol after he repeatedly and frantically shouted “Taser!”
Chief Gannon told reporters Monday: “I think the officer intended to deploy his Taser, but he shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet.”
Potter’s apparent confusion over what weapon he had has been widely criticized. The tasers are yellow, unlike a black pistol Potter had in his hand, and are usually kept soaked on the opposite side to the dominant firing hand of a police officer.
Both precautions are designed to prevent a police officer from pulling out a gun when they want to use a Taser to force a suspect to comply with their demands or avoid injuring someone else.
Prior to her resignation, Potter, who has been president of her city’s police union, had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Minnesota Office of Criminal Investigation.
The shooting was followed by protests and looting at Brooklyn Center and nearby Minneapolis.
The site of Wright’s shooting is about 14 miles from where George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, last year after Floyd was arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill.
On Tuesday morning, prosecutors reopened their case in the ongoing trial of Chauvin’s murder.
Floyd’s death ignited a national wave of protests and called for police reform.
Obama noted the coincidence of Wright’s death and Chauvin’s trial in his statement, which called Floyd’s death a “murder” even though no jury verdict has yet been reached on the case.
“The fact that this can happen even when the city of Minneapolis goes through the trial of Derek Chauvin and relives the assassination of George Floyd not only indicates the importance of conducting a full and transparent investigation, but also how wrong, we have to re-imagine the police and citizen security in this country, ”Obama said.
“Michelle and I are grieving alongside the Wright family for their loss,” Obama said in a statement.
“We empathize with the pain that black mothers, fathers and children feel after a new meaningless tragedy,” said Obama, who became the first black president of the United States in 2009.
“And we will continue to work with all Americans with equitable reasons to address the historical inequalities and bring about changes across the country that have been so long awaited.”
The families of Floyd and Wright, along with their civil rights attorney Ben Crump, are scheduled to hold a press conference at 1 p.m. ET in Minneapolis.
Crump said in a statement, “Daunte Wright is another young black man dead at the hands of those who have sworn to protect and serve us all, not just the whitest of us.”
“While Minneapolis and the rest of the country continue to deal with the tragic murder of George Floyd, we must now also mourn the loss of this young man and father. This level of lethal force was utterly avoidable and inhumane,” Crump said.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a conduct rally while campaigning for Democratic candidate Joseph Biden on October 21, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Minneapolis police said they made about 40 arrests Monday night for conduct ranging from curfew violations to riots.
The looting in the city was sporadic and limited to five outlets, police said.
Booker Hodges, deputy commissioners for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, told reporters, “We just want to thank everyone who came out and exercised their First Amendment rights peacefully.”
“Unfortunately, there were those who decided not to do so. And the plans we have established over the last few months were executed,” he said. “We’ve been saying for months that riotous behavior won’t be tolerated, and unfortunately tonight, that’s some of the things we’ve found.”
President Joe Biden said Monday he had not spoken to Wright’s family, “but my prayers are with the family.”
“Something really tragic happened,” Biden said. “But I think we have to wait and see what the research shows and all the research. You’ve all seen, I guess, like I did, the film, which is … pretty graphic. The question is, it was an accident, “This is yet to be determined through a full investigation.”
Biden added: “I want to make it clear again, there is no justification, none, for looting, no justification for violence.”
“Peaceful, understandable protests, and the fact is that, as you know, we know that the anger, pain and trauma that exists in the black community in this environment is real, they are serious and they are consistent,” the president said. . “But it will not justify violence or looting.”