[MINNEAPOLIS, MN., 12/23/21] — Today, justice in Minneapolis was not only blindfolded, but was blinded by the travesty that took place in a Hennepin County, Minnesota courtroom. Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran police officer, was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter for the accidental shooting of Daunte Wright. Wright’s vehicle was stopped for expired tags but during the stop, it was determined that Wright, a man with a detailed criminal past, had a warrant for his arrest for not appearing in court over a weapons charge. For that reason, Potter and her team needed to approach Wright’s vehicle with caution. As Wright was being placed under arrest and handcuffed, he began to resist and lunged forward into his car for an unknown reason.
Had the suspect followed officers’ instructions and not resisted, he would simply have been placed under arrest. There would have been no trial or verdict today. Life would have continued as normal for Kim Potter and Wright would still be alive and well. However, a known felon with a gun warrant resisted arrest, lunged forward into the front seat of his car, either to drive off and perhaps drag a cop with him or to try to reach a gun in the front seat. Officer Potter had to react quickly, believing she had her Taser and fired once. A shot from her service weapon which she accidentally grabbed in the heat of the moment ended her life as a cop, mom, and wife. She was thrown into the hotbed of Minneapolis politics where Derrick Chauvin was recently found guilty and where any jury would find it difficult to find innocence in any case, even for an accidental shooting case that should have been handled in Civil Court.
Jim Fotis, President of National Center for Police Defense said, “There is no justice for law enforcement officers in the United States. Police officers doing their job are met with disdain and abuse when brought into the system. Law enforcement is the last link to sanity and civility in a country that was the greatest in the world. If we treat our cops like criminals, the criminals will rule.”
National Center for Police Defense is a nonprofit organization that provides much needed support and resources to officers facing an unjust judicial system for protecting themselves and others on the job. When officers are convicted for doing their jobs, NCPD is there to help them and their families.
