Protesters met in Minneapolis Friday evening following the sentencing, reports claim, of Kim Potter, former Minnesota officer of police. She was sentenced to two years imprisonment in April 2021 shooting murder of Daunte Wayne.
Social media reports indicated that looting was taking place at Brooklyn Center stores, which is the Minneapolis suburb where Potter lived and where Wright died.
Brooklyn Center police confirmed the looting of a beauty supply shop, but they also reported that they had received reports that other stores might have been targeted according WCCO-TV Minneapolis.
Following the Potter sentencing, around 100 protesters gathered at the Hennepin County Government Center. They marched to Loring Park, stopping outside a condo building believed to be the residence of Judge Regina Chu. FOX 9 in Minneapolis reported that they also stopped at a building thought to be the home for Judge Regina Chu.
According to photographs posted by Vanshay Murdock, FOX 9 reporter, Protesters displayed signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “Justice for Daunte Wright.”
The New Black Panthers members held signs that featured Potter’s photograph and read “Shameless: Maximum Penalty!” According to The Associated Press.
The AP reported that other demonstrators supported the ex-police officer with signs that read “Free Kim Potter” and “We Love You Kim; Support Police”.
The state sentencing guidelines recommend that a manslaughter conviction be punished with a sentence of around seven years. However, Chu sentenced Potter to only two years. He argued that Wright’s death was accidental and that Potter had expressed regret.
Wright’s family and supporters claimed that the judge’s sentence was too light.
“So, once more, we are standing there to say that, unfortunately, we were not pleased with the outcome,” Katie Wright, mother of Daunte Wright told the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. We were convicted, and we are grateful to everyone for it, but this is not OK. This is the problem in our current justice system. White-woman tears trump justice.”
Aubrey Wright, father of the deceased man, said to the newspaper that he felt like he was being tricked. “I feel like people are laughing at me because this lady got a slap on her wrist. And we still every night sit around crying, waiting for our son to come home.
Potter claimed that she grabbed her stun gun instead of her police firearm during her confrontation with Wright. Police video appears to have shown Potter realizing her mistake.
According to FOX 9, Chu stated that he was not guilty of murder because he used his knee to hold down a person for nine minute while he gasped for breath. “This isn’t a cop who was found guilty of manslaughter after intentionally drawing his gun and firing across his partner as he approached his car to kill an unarmed female. This cop made a terrible mistake. She thought her Taser was her gun and pulled out her weapon, which ended up killing a young man.
The judge made reference to two other cases in Minnesota involving police officers. These were the May 2020 death George Floyd (for which a Minneapolis officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck was later convicted) and Justine Damond’s July 2017 death. Justine was shot to death by a Minneapolis officer responding to Damond’s 9-1-1 call regarding an assault of another woman close to Damond’s house. Later, the Damond police officer was convicted of a murder and a manslaughter offense. However, the murder charge was overturned and the sentence was reduced.
According to the head of Minnesota’s largest police union, he supports the sentence Potter was given by the judge.
“We are grateful for Judge Chu’s thoughtful approach in her stated reasoning as she recognized Ms. Potter’s law enforcement service and that it was a tragic error,” Brian Peters (executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association) said in a statement , according to the Star Tribune.
Potter was sent back to Shakopee women’s prison on Friday after her sentencing. She has been there since December, when she was convicted. Potter was released on April 24, 2023. FOX 9 reported that she had already been in prison for her arrest.
