Daunte Wright family erupts in cheers as Kim Potter found guilty: ‘We’re happy with everything’
Officer only third in Minnesota’s history convicted of killing a Black person
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The family of Daunte Wright erupted in cheers after former police officer Kim Potter was found guilty of killing the young man, with his brother yelling: “Let that b**** rot in hell”.
A jury in Minnesota on Thursday found the former officer guilty of two counts of manslaughter for shooting dead the 20-year-old during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center. Potter claimed she had mistakenly pulled out her firearm when she meant to deploy her Tazer.
It was only the third time in Minnesota’s history that a white officer had been convicted of killing a Black person.
Derek Chauvin, who in April was found guilty of murdering George Floyd in the summer of 2020, was the second officer convicted, despite hundreds of Black and other people of colour losing their lives as a result of police action.
“We're happy with everything, and excuse my language, but we going to let that b**ch rot in hell,” Daunte Wright’s brother, Damik, said celebrating with others in George Floyd Square, leading the cheers as the jury found the 49-year-old officer unanimously guilty of both counts. “I don’t speak a lie.”
The trial was being very closely watched, not simply within the Twin Cities region, but across the country.
When it was announced on Wednesday lunchtime after 27 hours deliberation that the jury had reached a “result” rather than a “verdict”, there was speculation of a possible hung jury, which would have required a new trial.
As it was, the 12-member jury found Potter guilty of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter for her role in the death of Mr Wright, who died from a bullet wound to the chest.
Potter, who broke down last week on the stand as she testified to her remorse for the shooting, showed little emotion as Judge Regina Chu read the verdict.
Potter’s lawyers asked that she be released on bail while awaiting sentencing, particularly given the Christmas holiday was approaching, Ms Chu said she could not make an exception.
“We will be taking Ms Potter into custody and holding without bail,” Ms Chu said.
After the verdict, Katie Bryant, the mother of the young man, who himself had a young child, appeared to thank everyone.
Asked how she felt when the result was announced, she said she let out a yelp.
“The moment that we heard ‘guilty one’, every single emotion that you could imagine, just running through your body at that moment,” she said.
“I kind of let out a yelp, because it had built up, in the anticipation of what was to come when we were waiting the last few days.”
She added: “Now we've been able to process it. We want to thank the entire prosecution team. We want to thank the community support. Everybody who's been out there that has supported us in this long fight for accountability.”
Asked what she had to say about Potter, she said: “I'd rather not answer that question.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the guilty verdicts had brought a “degree of accountability for Daunte's death”, though he said “accountability is not justice”.
“Restorative justice is restoration. Justice would be restoring Daunte to life and making the right family whole again,” he said.
“My thoughts are also with Ms Potter today. She has gone from being an esteemed member of the community, an honoured member of a noble profession, to being convicted today of a serious crime,” he said. “I don't wish that on anyone, but it was our responsibility as the prosecution, as ministers of justice, to pursue justice wherever it led, and the jury found the facts.”
When the young man was fatally shot in April there were widespread protests in Brooklyn Center, some of them peaceful, and some of them violent. Police used large amounts of stinging of tear gas to dispel the crowds.
The police chief initially stood by Potter, but he was eventually fired by the mayor, Mike Elliott, who appointed a new head of the department and vowed to make the force more diverse.
At the time there was incredulity mixed with anger among protesters, given that the fatal shooting of Wright occurred as the trial of Chauvin was taking place just a few miles away in a courthouse in Minneapolis.
People said that even with the entire world watching the Twin Cities, police did not care enough about avoiding such incidents.