World

Daunte Wright shooting: Ex-officer Kim Potter charged over killing

April 15, 2021 5:10 pm

Kim Potter was held at Hennepin County Jail before being released on bail. [Source: BBC]

A white former police officer who shot dead a black motorist in Minnesota has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors say.

Kim Potter was arrested and later released on $100,000 bail.

Police say Potter shot Daunte Wright accidentally, having mistakenly drawn her gun instead of her Taser.

Article continues after advertisement

Responding to the charges, the Wright family’s lawyer Ben Crump said the killing was an “intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force”.

Both Mrs Potter and local police Chief Tim Gannon have resigned.

The killing has sparked clashes between police and protesters in Brooklyn Center – a suburb of Minneapolis – and late on Wednesday, several hundred demonstrators again defied a curfew to gather outside police headquarters.