The white veteran police officer who shot dead Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Minneapolis after allegedly confusing her gun for a taser could reportedly faces charges as early as tomorrow after she and her police chief boss both resigned from the force.
It is not yet clear what charges Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter will face over the death of the 20-year-old black man but multiple sources told KSTP they could be filed on Wednesday.
Both Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon resigned on Tuesday two days after Wright was shot dead after he was pulled over for what police said were expired license plate tags.
In her resignation letter, Potter – who has worked for the department for 26 years – did not address the deadly shooting that has sparked two days of violent protests and unrest across the city.
‘I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department and my fellow officers if I resign immediately,’ Potter said.
Potter, a married mother-of-two, has been on administrative leave since the shooting.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot announced the resignation of Potter’s police chief boss.
Gannon was the one who revealed during a tense press conference a day earlier that Wright’s death was the result of ‘accidental discharge’ after Potter mistook her taser for a gun.
Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon both resigned on Tuesday two days after the 20-year-old black man was shot dead after he was pulled over for what police said were expired license plate tags
Potter, a white veteran police officer, shot dead 20-year-old Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop in Minneapolis on Sunday after allegedly confusing her gun for a taser
The resignations came as pressure mounted for Potter to be fired, including from Mayor Elliot.
Elliott said on Tuesday he was ‘appreciative’ that Potter submitted her resignation but that he had not asked for it. He said he wasn’t sure if it was because she had heard that she would soon be fired.
It is not clear if Potter will be entitled to keep her pension.
Activists who attended the news conference called for sweeping changes to the Brooklyn Center Police Department and criticized acting police chief, Tony Gruenig, for not yet having a plan.
In her resignation letter, Potter – who has worked for the department for 26 years – did not address the deadly shooting that has sparked two days of violent protests and unrest across the city
Elliott said there were 49 police officers in the department but none of them lived in Brooklyn Center. He didn’t immediately have information regarding racial diversity of those officers but said ‘we have very few people of color in our department.’
He went on to say he hoped Potter’s resignation would ‘bring some calm to the community’ but that he would keep working towards ‘full accountability under the law.’
‘That’s what we’re going to continue to work for,’ Elliott said. ‘We have to make sure that justice is served, justice is done. Daunte Wright deserves that, his family deserves that.’
Wright was shot as police were trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. Police have said a struggle broke out as they tried to take him into custody after running his name and realizing he had the warrant.
Authorities have not confirmed the nature of the warrant but court records show Wright was being sought after failing to appear in court last month on misdemeanor charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police last June.
His aunt has said the warrant was for marijuana possession.
Meanwhile, police started barricading Potter’s home on Tuesday after her address was posted on social media, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Exclusive photos show the five-bedroom home surrounded by police and workmen unloading barricades. A police source told DailyMail.com that they anticipate protests later and said they are taking precautions to prevent the home being wrecked.
‘We learned from [Derek] Chauvin. His house got totally smashed up in the protests,’ the source said.
It is understood Potter left the property late last night with her 54-year-old husband Jeffrey and their sons Sam and Nick.
Jeffrey, a 26-year police veteran, retired from cop work with the Fridley Police Department in 2017 and now works as a corporate investigator at Allina Health. A relative was also spotted at the home on Tuesday morning, taking a series of cardboard boxes out of the property and loading it into their car.
Police sources told DailyMail.com that Potter and her family have left the area entirely.
Meanwhile, police started barricading Potter’s home on Tuesday after her address was posted on social media, DailyMail.com can reveal. Exclusive photos show the five-bedroom home surrounded by police and workmen unloading barricades
A police source told DailyMail.com that they anticipate protests later and said they are taking precautions to prevent the home being wrecked
A protester gathered outside Potter’s home on Tuesday after police and workers erected barricades
People were spotted retrieving belongings from Potter’s home on Tuesday after the police officer left with her family last night
Daunte Wright’s parents Katie and Aubrey said they could not accept their son’s death was a mistake after police revealed Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter accidentally fired her gun instead of her taser
During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Wright’s aunt, Naisha Wright, called his death ‘murder’ and dismissed claims it was an accident
In an interview with Good Morning America on Tuesday, Wright’s parents Katie and Aubrey said they could not accept their son’s death was a mistake.
‘I cannot accept that. I lost my son, he’s never coming back. I can’t accept a mistake, that doesn’t even sound right,’ Aubrey said.
‘This officer has been on the force for 26 years.’
Wright’s mother added that she wants Potter to be held accountable for ‘everything she’s taken from us’.
During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Wright’s aunt, Naisha Wright, called his death ‘murder’ and dismissed claims it was an accident.
‘They murdered my nephew. She killed my nephew,’ Naisha said at the press conference, which was held alongside members of George Floyd’s family.
‘Every pistol, every Taser, it has a safety on it. She saw that she had to release that. That woman held that gun in front of her for a long damn time.’
Naisha had earlier denied that her nephew’s license plate tag was expired, as police have said. She also said a misdemeanor warrant that was out for her nephew was ‘just for some weed’.
Wright’s shooting death has sparked violent protests and unrest in the city that is already on edge because of the trial of Derek Chauvin, the first of four police officers charged in George Floyd’s death.
Protests also broke out overnight in New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Portland and Seattle.
The unrest continued for a second night just hours after the Hennepin County medical examiner ruled Wright’s death as a homicide and said the cause was a gunshot wound to the chest.
It came after Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon held a tense press conference on Monday afternoon where he said ‘an accidental discharge’ appeared to be the cause of Wright’s death.
Wright was shot dead on Sunday afternoon after he and his girlfriend were pulled over during a traffic stop for what police say was an expired car registration.
The officers then learned Wright, who has a toddler son, had the outstanding warrant against him.
Gannon released footage of the incident from Potter’s bodycam that showed her and two other officers approaching Wright’s car after he had been pulled over for the traffic stop.
The footage showed one officer trying to handcuff Wright as a second officer told him he was being arrested on a warrant. Wright immediately jumped back into his car in an apparent attempt to flee.
A struggle then broke out between the officers and Wright, who was still sitting inside his car.
‘I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!’ Potter could be heard shouting in her bodycam video.
Immediately after, Potter can be heard saying: ‘Holy sh*t. I shot him’.
Wright managed to drive several blocks before coming to a stop when he hit another car. He was pronounced dead at the scene and his girlfriend, who was a passenger in the car, sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Police body cam footage of the fatal incident showed three officers approaching Daunte Wright’s car in Brooklyn Center on Sunday after he had been pulled over for the traffic stop
Potter could be heard shouting ‘Taser!’ several times in the moments before she fired her gun. Immediately after, she can be heard saying: ‘I shot him’. It appears she dropped her gun in the aftermath
‘This was an accidental discharge that resulted in a tragic death of Mr Wright,’ Gannon said.
‘As I watch the video and listen to the officer’s commands, it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their taser, but instead shot Mr Wright with a single bullet.
‘For informational purposes we train with our handguns on our dominant side, and our taser on our weak side. If you’re right-handed you carry your firearm on your right side and your carry your taser on the left. This is done purposefully, and it’s trained.’
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is the agency investigating Wright’s death.
Potter has been placed on administrative duty.
Brooklyn City Mayor Mike Elliott said during the press conference that the officer should be fired.
‘My position is that we cannot afford to make mistakes that lead to the loss of life of other people in our profession,’ Elliott said, adding he fully supported relieving the officer of her duties.
His comments were in contrast to City Manager Curt Boganey, who was in charge of the police department, after he said he wanted due process to play out before passing judgment on the officer’s actions.
Boganey was fired by the town’s City Council in an emergency meeting on Monday.
Elliott now oversees the police department.
Brian Peters, head of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, said Potter was working Sunday as a field training officer, training a rookie officer.
‘She’s just a very dedicated, passionate, good person. It’s completely devastating,’ he said. ‘In a very tense moment, she made a mistake. It’s not her character.’
Potter is a married mother of two, who was first licensed as a police officer in Minnesota in 1995 at age 22, according to state records obtained by the Star Tribune.
Police clear the streets near Brooklyn Center Police Department on Monday. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon described the shooting death Sunday of 20-year-old Daunte Wright as ‘an accidental discharge.’ It happened as police were trying to arrest Wright on an outstanding warrant
A demonstrator is arrested by police for violating curfew and an order to disperse during a protest against the police shooting of Daunte Wright, late Monday
Protesters throw fireworks towards police as they gather outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department a day after Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on Monday
A Dollar Tree store that was looted has its sprinklers turned on. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had announced a curfew from 7 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday for the three counties that include Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis and the capital of St. Paul. But hundreds of protesters defied that order and were seen gathered in the city Monday evening
She has served on the city’s negotiation team, and was among the first to arrive at the scene of another officer-involved shooting, in August 2019. In that case, Kobe Dimock-Heisler died after he allegedly rushed at officers with a knife in a home.
Potter instructed the two officers involved in the 2019 incident ‘to exit the residence, get into separate squad cars, turn off their body worn cameras, and to not talk to each other,’ according to an investigative report from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, obtained by the paper. Both officers’ actions were found to be justified and no charges were filed.
Potter has been a union president for her department’s officers, the paper reported, and was a longtime member of the Law Enforcement Memorial Association.
Potter has two adult sons and lives with her husband, a former Fridley police officer, in a different Minneapolis suburb, the paper reported.
She had annual salary of $86,190, according to public records from 2018.
Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who helped win a $27 million legal settlement for the Floyd family, is also representing the Wrights.
In a tweet, Crump said he believed that Potter ‘knew exactly what she was doing’ in a previous case which he said she told officers how to ‘obscure accountability’.
He wrote about the previous incident involving Dimock-Heisler and Potter, saying she ‘taught officers who fatally shot Kobe Dimock-Heisler how to protect themselves & obscure accountability’.
Crump, quoting a Hennepin County Attorney’s Office report, wrote that Potter had previously instructed two police officers in the previous case to ‘exit the residence, get into separate squad cars, turn off their body worn camera, and to not talk to eаch other.
‘Of course Kim Potter knew exactly what she was doing. She knew how to obscure the truth. In that instance, her actions were clearly intentional,’ he wrote.
Police clear a strip mall of demonstrators after issuing orders to disperse during a protest against the police shooting of Daunte Wright, late Monday, April 12
Protesters are arrested as law enforcement clear the streets near Brooklyn Center Police Department as a curfew remains in effect. Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. April 13 2021. Protests continue in the wake of the fatal shooting of Duante Wright
Law enforcement clear the streets near Brooklyn Center Police Department as a curfew remains in effect. Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. April 13 2021
Protesters advance towards officers using umbrellas as shields outside Brooklyn Center Police Department
Law enforcement clear the streets near Brooklyn Center Police Department as a curfew remains in effect. Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. April 13 2021
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters faced off against police in Brooklyn Center after nightfall on Monday hours after a dusk-to-dawn curfew was announced by the Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
A drum beat incessantly and the crowd broke into frequent chants of ‘Daunte Wright!’
When the protesters wouldn’t disperse, police began firing gas canisters and flash-bang grenades, sending clouds wafting over the crowd and chasing some protesters away.
A long line of police in riot gear, rhythmically pushing their clubs in front of them, began slowly forcing back the remaining crowds.
‘Move back!’ the police chanted. ‘Hands up! Don’t shoot!’ the crowd chanted back.
Law enforcement agencies had stepped up their presence across the Minneapolis area after Sunday night violence.
The number of Minnesota National Guard troops was expected to more than double to over 1,000 by Monday night.
A curfew was in place, but the protesters were determined to ignore it.
The police repeatedly tried to drive protesters away from the police headquarters, only for the crowd to scatter, then regroup.
By late Monday, only a few dozen protesters remained.
At a press conference at 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matt Langer said that 40 people had been arrested on Monday night at the Brooklyn Center protest, with some people being booked into the Hennepin County jail, while some were cited and released.
He added several officers suffered minor injuries from debris.
Wright’s mother Katie Wright has previously described her son calling her in the moments before he was shot to say police had pulled him over for having air fresheners dangling from his rear-view mirror.
It is illegal in Minnesota to have anything hanging from a rear-view mirror.
Katie Wright (left), the mother of Daunte Wright, is embraced during a vigil for her son on April 12, 2021 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Wright was shot and killed yesterday by Brooklyn Center police during a traffic stop
Pictured: A man blows smoke in the face of an officer outside Brooklyn Center Police Station at 6645 N. Humboldt Ave
Riot police stand in the middle of a crowd of protesters demonstrating after the death of Wright, outside the police station at 6645 N. Humboldt Ave
Tension was high as Brooklyn Center Police attempted to fortify the police station at 6645 N. Humboldt Ave. Heavily armed police officers in riot gear faced off with protesters gathered outside of the police station
Police officers stand guard as they face off with demonstrators outside of the Brooklyn Center police station on April 12, 2021
Demonstrators face off with police outside of the Brooklyn Center police station on April 12, 2021 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced a curfew from 7 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday for the three counties that include Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis and the capital of St. Paul
She said he called her to get insurance information for the vehicle because she recently gave the car to him.
Describing the call, Wright’s mother said: ‘I said when the police officer comes back to the window, put him on the phone and I will give him the insurance information.
‘Then I heard the police officer come to the window and say, ‘Put the phone down and get out of the car.’ And Wright said ‘why’. He said, ‘We’ll explain to you when you get out of the car.”
‘A minute later, I called and his girlfriend answered, who was the passenger in the car, and said that he’d been shot and she put it on the driver’s side, and he was laying there lifeless,’ Katie told gathered media on Sunday afternoon.
‘I heard scuffling, and I heard police officers say, ‘Daunte, don’t run,” she said through tears. The call ended, and she dialed his number again. His girlfriend answered and said he was dead in the driver’s seat.
Speaking before the unrest broke out, Wright’s mother had urged protesters to stay peaceful and remain focused on the loss of her son.
‘All the violence, if it keeps going, it’s only going to be about the violence. We need it to be about why my son got shot for no reason,’ she said to a crowd near the shooting scene in Brooklyn Center.
‘We need to make sure it’s about him and not about smashing police cars, because that’s not going to bring my son back.’
President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and the White House has been in touch with the governor, mayor and local law enforcement.
‘We should listen to Dante’s mom who is calling for peace and calm,’ Biden said.
Biden then stressed that there is ‘absolutely no justification for violence’ in protest or otherwise.
‘Peaceful protest is understandable. And the fact is that we do know that the anger, pain and trauma that exists in Black community in that environment is real, serious, and consequential. But that does not justify violence…’
On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris also commented on the situation following Wright’s death.
‘Prayers are not enough,’ she tweeted. ‘Daunte Wright should still be with us. While an investigate is underway, our nation needs justice and healing, and Daunte’s family needs to know why their child is dead—they deserve answers.’
Squad member Rashida Tlaib calls for the ABOLISHMENT of police saying they are ‘intentionally racist’ and ‘cannot be reformed’ – before describing death of Daunte Wright as ‘government-funded murder’
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has called for the abolishment of police following the fatal shooting of unarmed black man Daunte Wright.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has called for the abolishment of police following the fatal shooting of unarmed black man Daunte Wright
The Michigan Rep. made the radical declaration on Twitter Monday – one day after Wright was shot dead at a traffic stop in Minnesota when a white cop reached for her gun instead of a Taser, which has been characterized as an accident.
‘It wasn’t an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist,’ Tlaib posted to Twitter.
‘Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government-funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.’
Tlaib – who is a member of Congress’ far-left ‘Squad’ alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar – set off fierce debate with the incendiary tweet, which was ‘liked’ more than 15,000 times.
‘Sounds like a call for total anarchy. I wonder if Twitter will remove this post,’ one person stated in the replies section.
‘This isn’t racism. Everything isn’t color. The cop screwed up for sure but Daunte would likely be alive if he didn’t fight the police,’ another wrote.
A third chimed in urging Tlaib to put her money where her mouth is, and do away with her own police protection.
‘No more policing can begin when elected officials get rid of their police and security forces. We’re not doing this thing where we have no policing, but y’all are protected to the hilt,’ they tweeted.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz shared Tlaib’s tweet and described it as ‘insane’.
However, there were some followers who agreed with Tlaib, saying that police agencies were beyond the point of reform.
‘I agree. I have no power, but you do. We elected you to change things. So change them,’ one voter wrote.
‘Why didn’t the police talk to him [Wright], deescalate? Why so aggressive? I’m with you,’ another concurred.