Brooklyn Center cop who shot black man Daunte Wright to face second-degree manslaughter charge

Kimberly Potter, the police officer who shot dead black man Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, will be charged with second-degree manslaughter, the Washington County Attorney's Office has said.

Potter was arrested on Wednesday morning, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a statement, and charges would be filed later in the day by the county attorney.

She faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine if found guilty.

Agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) this morning arrested a former a Brooklyn Center police officer for the April 11 shooting death of Daunte Wright. Agents took Kim Potter into custody at approximately 11:30 a.m. at the BCA in St. Paul.

— Minnesota BCA (@MnDPS_BCA) April 14, 2021

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon previously said he believed the officer had mistakenly grabbed her gun instead of her Taser when she shot and killed Wright, 20, on Sunday after he was pulled over in his car for an alleged traffic violation. Gannon said police body cam footage of the fatal incident suggested the shooting was an “accidental discharge.”

Three consecutive nights of riots erupted after the killing as protests against Wright's shooting escalated. Police in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb, deployed teargas and flash-bang grenades against protesters on Tuesday and several local jurisdictions declared curfews.

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Wright's death has heightened tensions in Minneapolis, where former police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd.

Other protests over the police killing took place in Dallas, Texas, where Black Lives Matter activists took over a hotel, and in Portland, Oregon, where a police union building was set on fire.

Potter joined Brooklyn Center Police Department in 1995. On Tuesday, both she and Gannon announced they were resigning from the force.

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