Daunte Wright: Ex-Police Officer, Kim Potter Released On $100k Bond After Being Charged For Manslaughter

By Edna Wande On Apr 15, 2021

Former Minnesota police officer, Kim Potter, who was charged with manslaughter over the killing of Daunte Wright, has been released from jail on bail.

Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force who headed the local police union, was charged on Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop on April 11 in Brooklyn Center.

The 48-year-old was released from a Hennepin County jail just before 5:40 p.m. CT Wednesday after posting a $100,000 (N38.1m) bond, according to jail records.

Potter is expected to make her first court appearance on today but it’s unclear whether she will appear virtually or in person before Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis.

Speaking, Imran Ali, Washington County assistant criminal division chief, said;

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.

Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, died of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, which classified the manner of death as a homicide.

He was shot and killed during a traffic stop just before 2 p.m. on Sunday in Brooklyn Center, after officer Potter said she mistook her taser for a gun and fired at him.

Wright died about 10 miles from where George Floyd, another black man was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last year.

Potter and Brooklyn Center Police Chief, Tim Gannon resigned from their positions on Tuesday in the wake of Wright’s death.

The maximum sentence for the charge is a 10-year jail sentence and a $20,000 (N7.6m) fine, Minnesota statutes state.