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Crowds have gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department for the fourth consecutive night of protests following the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
Protestors have been seen throwing objects at law enforcement and trying to climb and dismantle the fence around the police department building, according to a tweet from Operation Safety Net and CNN teams on the ground.
As has been the case each night, law enforcement is lined up on the inside of the fence facing the protestors, as well as on the roof of the building.
The curfew for Brooklyn Center goes into effect at 10 p.m. CT.
Protesters have been seen outside the police precinct in Brooklyn Center for a fourth night following the death of Daunte Wright who was shot and killed by a police officer.
Former Brooklyn Center Police officer Kimberly Potter will make her first court appearance Thursday at 1:30 pm CT, according to Minnesota Judicial Branch spokesperson Kyle Christopherson.
Potter is scheduled to appear before Judge Nicole A. Engisch, according to Christopherson. The hearing will be held via Zoom, Christopherson said.
More context: Potter was arrested and charged with second degree manslaughter in the killing of Daunte Wright earlier Wednesday.
She is currently being held in the Hennepin County Jail on $100,000 bail, according to the criminal complaint.
A 10 pm CT curfew will remain in-effect in Brooklyn Center Wednesday night, Mayor Mike Elliott said at a news conference this afternoon
This marks the third consecutive night the city will have a curfew in the wake of Sunday’s fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
The curfew extends until 6 am CT Thursday morning, Elliott said.
With the Derek Chauvin trial underway in Minneapolis and three consecutive nights of unrest on the streets of nearby Brooklyn Center following the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, more than 3,000 Minnesota National Guard members have now been activated in the Twin Cities area, according to a tweet from Operation Safety Net (OSN) Wednesday afternoon.
OSN also updated their arrest numbers from Tuesday night’s protests near the Brooklyn Center Police Department, saying in a tweet that 79 arrests were made.
“Arrests were for a range of charges including inciting riot and unlawful assembly,” OSN said.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput issued a news release Wednesday afternoon which included a summary of the criminal complaint filed against former Brooklyn Center Police Officer, Kimberly Potter, who fatally shot Daunte Wright.
In the release, Orput said Potter was a field training officer when she and another officer pulled over Daunte Wright in a white Buick on Sunday afternoon. The officer training with Potter, Anthony Luckey, determined Wright had a warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge, according to the release.
Wright, Potter and Luckey were outside the Buick’s driver side door when Luckey told Wright he was being arrested for the outstanding warrant, according to the complaint cited in the release.
After saying she would tase Wright, she instead “pulled her Glock 9mm handgun with her right hand and pointed it at Wright, saying again that she would tase him,” the news release states. Potter said “Taser, Taser, Taser,” pulled the trigger on her handgun, and fired one round into Wright’s left side of the victim, according to the complaint cited in the news release.
Wright immediately said, “ah, he shot me,” and drove away before crashing into another vehicle. Wright was pronounced dead at the scene, as mentioned in previous CNN reporting.
After firing her gun, Potter said “Sh**, I just shot him!”
“A Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator examined Potter’s duty belt and saw that the handgun is holstered on the right side of the belt and her Taser is on the left side. The grips or handles of both the gun and Taser face Potter’s rear. The Taser is yellow with a black grip. Also, the Taser is set in a straight-draw position, meaning Potter would have to use her left hand to pull the Taser out of its holster,” according to the release.
Wright’s death was ruled a homicide on Monday, and Potter was arrested and charged with second degree manslaughter in the killing of Wright earlier in the day Wednesday.
“Certain occupations carry an immense responsibility and none more so than a sworn police officer,” Imran Ali, Washington County assistant criminal division chief and director of the Major Crime Unit said in the release. “With that responsibility comes a great deal of discretion and accountability. We will vigorously prosecute this case and intend to prove that Officer Potter abrogated her responsibility to protect the public when she used her firearm rather than her taser. Her action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable. County Attorney Peter Orput and I met with the family, expressed our deepest sympathies and assured them we would spare no resources in seeking justice for Mr. Wright.”
The Washington County Attorney’s Office say they will not be holding a news conference, and the full criminal complaint was not included in the release.
Former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter has been booked into the Hennepin County Jail, according to online jail records.
She was booked 37 minutes after the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said they arrested her.
Potter was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Daunte Wright.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Derrick Johnson said “justice must prevail” in response to Washington County Attorney Pete Orput’s decision to file second degree manslaughter charges against former officer Kim Potter.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott tweeted after the charges were announced, saying “Daunte Wright like many other black and brown members of our community should be alive and at home with his family today. #DaunteWright”
Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family of Daunte Wright, reacted to the news that former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter has been charged with second degree manslaughter.
Crump said while they “appreciate that the District Attorney is pursuing justice for Daunte, no conviction can give the Wright family their loved one back.”
The family will hold a news conference tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET, Crump said in the statement.
Potter was arrested by agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and is expected to be booked into the Hennepin County Jail.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki would not weigh in on whether President Biden believes the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright should face charges.
“I’m not going to weigh in on legal or law enforcement actions. We’ll leave that to the courts and law enforcement authorities on the ground,” Psaki said during Wednesday’s press briefing.
Kim Potter, the Brooklyn Center police officer who resigned from the force after the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Wright, was charged with second-degree manslaughter in his death earlier today, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said.
Psaki said the administration remains focused on its legislative efforts on police reform.
She would not say whether Biden would reinstate a practice of investigations into local police departments to identify civil rights abuses previously pursued under the Obama administration. She directed the reporter’s question to the attorney general.
She would not directly answer why Biden has not issued an executive order prohibiting local law enforcement from using military equipment – similar to an order issued during the Obama administration. Psaki said the Biden administration is working with civil rights leaders to address their concerns and pass the George Floyd Act.
“I know that does not solve all the issues. We’re not suggesting that. I would say this is an issue that will be a cause of President Biden’s time in office, and we are less than 100 days in. There is more to come. Right now, our focus is on working toward getting that legislation passed,” she said.
Agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrested Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter at 12:30 p.m. ET in connection to the killing of Daunte Wright, according to a statement from the BCA.
Potter is expected to be booked into the Hennepin County Jail on probable cause second-degree manslaughter, the BCA said.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput announced he has charged Potter with second-degree manslaughter for killing Wright during a traffic stop Sunday.
Kim Potter, the Brooklyn Center police officer who resigned from the force after the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in his death, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said.
The maximum sentence for second degree manslaughter is prison for ten years and a $20,000 fine, according to Minnesota statutes.
The case has been filed in Hennepin County District Court.
On Monday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s office said they transferred the case to Washington County because they wanted “to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest in handling such cases.”
Potter submitted her resignation yesterday, but Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said yesterday that he has not accepted it. She is a 26-year police veteran with the department and worked as a field training officer.
CNN has reached out to Potter’s attorney, Earl Gray, for comment.
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In a brief virtual address to civil rights leaders attending Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network’s National Convention, Attorney General Merrick Garland stressed the importance of the Justice Department’s civil rights division and promised to examine the practices of police departments around the country, as well as provide them with additional funding and resources.
“Our commitment to equal justice is a whole of department effort,” Garland continued. “That effort will involve work by our grant making components to help police departments around the country improve their practices through funding and technical assistance, leverage to promote policing policies that benefit communities and enhance trust.”
Garland’s promise marks the first comments from the attorney general on the subject of policing following the police shooting death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Garland called the Civil Rights Division “the tip of the spear of the Justice Department’s effort to insure justice for all people.”
He said he is seeking an increase in the division’s budget and in the budget of its component, the community relations service.
Attorney Ben Crump spoke to CBS News about two families he is representing: the families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright.
Floyd was killed in May 2020 after Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, placed his knee on Floyd’s neck while he pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” Chauvin — who is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter — is currently on trial. The 13th day of testimony will begin this morning.
Wright was killed Sunday during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota — which is about 10 miles away from where Chauvin’s trial is playing out.
Crump said said he and Wright’s family don’t think the resignation of officer Kim Potter — who authorities say shot and killed Wright after a traffic stop Sunday — is “fair that she can kill him and say ‘I made a mistake’ and then resign and keep all her benefits and pensions.”
Wright’s death Sunday during a traffic stop — which the former Brooklyn Center police chief said appeared to be the result of the officer mistaking her gun for her Taser — has sparked widespread anger.
Potter resigned from the force yesterday.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott told CNN Tuesday that Kim Potter — who authorities say shot and killed Daunte Wright during a routine traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota — submitted a letter of resignation from the Brooklyn Center Police Department.
In a letter, Potter wrote that she “loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability.”
Elliott said Potter decided on her own to resign from the police department.
“We did not ask her to resign. That was a decision she made,” he said.
At a news conference by Elliott Tuesday, people in the room voiced concerns that Potter resigned and was not fired. The mayor said he has “not accepted her resignation” and that his office is continuing to review the matter.
“We’re doing our internal process to make sure that we are being accountable to the steps that we need to take,” Elliott told reporters.
Hundreds gathered for a third night of protests to express anger over the police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb as prosecutors could decide as soon as Wednesday whether to charge the officer authorities say shot him.
The Washington County prosecutor is weighing charges for former Brooklyn Center police Officer Kim Potter in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, he told CNN.
Wright’s death Sunday during a traffic stop, which then-Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said appeared to be the result of Potter mistaking her gun for her Taser, has sparked widespread anger.
