Former Brooklyn Center Police Department Officer Kim Potter is expected to be charged with second-degree manslaughter in the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. This decision comes just hours after Potter resigned from the police force officially.
"I am tendering my resignation from the Brooklyn Center Police Department effective immediately. 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," she wrote in her resignation letter.
Alongside Potter, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon also resigned from the police force. Both resignations came abruptly as the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension continues to investigate the matter further. With their resignations, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott will take over command of the police force for the time being.
"Well, what I understand is that the officer stepping down has the effect, I think, of speaking to one of the things the community, the folks who have been out here protesting, have been calling for: that is that the officer should be relieved of her duties," Elliott said shortly after learning of Potter's resignation.
"I hope this will bring some calm to the community, but I think ultimately people want justice, they want full accountability under the law. So that's what we're going to continue to work for."
As charges are handed down, the Brooklyn Center community continues to mourn the untimely killing of the 20-year-old Wright. Potter pulled Wright over for a minor traffic infraction on Sunday afternoon. According to his mother, Katie Wright, Daunte Wright was asked to step out of the vehicle without being told what he was being charged with. During the interaction, Potter, a 26-year police veteran, claims she reached for taser, but mistakenly pulled out her gun. From there, she fired her weapon and killed Wright as a fellow officer and car passenger looked on.
Wright's death has sparked protests in several major U.S. cities including Minneapolis, New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. Protests are expected to continue in the coming days as the would mourns Wright's death and the State v. Chauvin trial wraps up.
At this time, neither the Wright family nor their attorney has issued a public statement regarding the matter.
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