Kim Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright after she says she mistook her gun for a Taser, has been found guilty on manslaughter charges.
A Minneapolis jury found Potter guilty Thursday on charges of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Wright, a Black man, in April 2021. Potter fatally shot Wright during a traffic stop. She says she thought her gun was a Taser, and video showed her shouting "Taser" and saying "Holy s--t. I just shot him."
Potter testified in her defense during the trial, saying she was "very distraught" after the shooting and "didn't want to hurt anybody." Prosecutors said the case was about "an officer who knew she could kill someone if she got it wrong but failed to make sure she got it right," per NPR, and attorneys for Wright's family said the "argument that she mistook her firearm for her Taser is simply beyond comprehension and a damning indictment of both her and the Brooklyn Center Police Department's practices and training protocols."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to The New York Times, the maximum sentence on the most serious charge is 15 years. Potter's conviction comes after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted this year in the murder of George Floyd, and he was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. Potter is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
-
The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
-
Mall World: why are people dreaming about a shopping centre?Under The Radar Thousands of strangers are dreaming about the same thing and no one sure why
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
