Cop charged for killing Black man after traffic stop

Cop charged for killing Black man after traffic stop

[NFA] Kim Potter, the white police officer whose fatal shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb ignited three nights of protests and civil unrest was arrested on Wednesday and charged with second-degree manslaughter.

This report produced by Jillian Kitchener.

Minnesota authorities, Wednesday, arrested the police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a scuffle that followed a routine traffic stop.

Kim Potter was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright.

Her arrest came a day after Potter, a 26-year veteran, resigned from the Brooklyn Center police force… as did the Police Chief.

Daunte Wright was fatally shot Sunday afternoon after being pulled over for what police said was an expired car registration.

Authorities say the officers discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest.

They say when Wright began to struggle, Potter accidentally drew her pistol instead of her Taser.

She can be heard on police video shouting “I just shot him.” During a Wednesday press conference with civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton, Wright family attorney Benjamin Crump said he was outraged by yet another police shooting of a Black man, especially in Minnesota: "It's just so unconscionable and unbelievable Reverend Al, that within ten miles from where the trial regarding the killing of George Floyd is taking place, that a police officer would yet again kill another unarmed Black man.

If ever there was a time in America when the police should be on their greatest behavior, their best behavior... It should be now.

And especially in Minnesota.

I mean, it is just unfathomable." Wright’s death sparked several nights of protests.

Some demonstrators lobbed bottles and other projectiles.

Officers fired teargas and flash-bang rounds to disperse the crowd.

The shooting has renewed criticism of vehicle stops for minor traffic violations.

It has also drawn attention to potential issues with the use of Tasers by police officers, with some experts saying problems persist with training and the weapon’s design.

To convict Potter of second-degree manslaughter under Minnesota law, prosecutors must show that she was “culpably negligent” and took an “unreasonable risk” in her actions against Wright.

Potter’s charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, if convicted, and a $20,000 fine.