Daunte Wright called his mother. The tremble in his voice told her something was wrong. The police had stopped him, he told her nervously.
“He’s afraid of the police, and I just seen and heard the fear in his voice,” said his mother, Katie Wright.
She tried to keep him calm, as he spoke with her on the phone on Sunday while he was being pulled over in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.
He had told her the reason for the traffic stop had something to do with the air fresheners dangling from the rearview mirror, and she asked him to take them down and to let her speak with the officers over the phone.
Mr. Wright, 20, she said, asked the officers, “Am I in trouble?” Then Ms. Wright heard scuffling and a woman screaming in the background. The call dropped abruptly, and Ms. Wright feared that her son had become another victim of police brutality in America. (Martinez and Sandoval 1).
The officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop near Minneapolis mistakenly confused her gun for her Taser, police officials said on Monday, quickly releasing video as they tried to ease tensions in a state on edge over the Derek Chauvin trial.
In a brief clip of body camera video, officers from the Brooklyn Center Police Department can be seen trying to handcuff the driver, Daunte Wright, before he suddenly lurches back into his car. One of the officers aims a weapon at Mr. Wright and shouts, “Taser! Taser! Taser!”
She fires one round, and Mr. Wright groans in pain.
“Holy shit, I just shot him,” the officer can be heard shouting.
Late Monday, the officer who fired the fatal shot was identified as Kim Potter, who has worked for the department for 26 years. [Officer Potter had been assigned to guide less experienced colleagues that Sunday night]
The announcement came as protesters faced off with the police. Hundreds had gathered outside the Brooklyn Center police station for the second consecutive night, defying a new 7 p.m. curfew in a steady rain.
Demonstrators occasionally lobbed water bottles and rocks over newly erected fencing, chanting “killer cop” and “hands up, don’t shoot” while officers clad in riot gear stood guard. Officers responded by sporadically firing projectiles at the crowd and at one point released a chemical agent that caused people to start coughing.
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… As the investigation into Mr. Wright’s death in Brooklyn Center was beginning on Monday, prosecutors in a courtroom less than 10 miles away completed the questioning of their witnesses in the trial of Mr. Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd last May.
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The police said officers attempted to detain him [Wright] after they discovered that there was a warrant for his arrest, stemming from a missed hearing on a misdemeanor gun charge.
Mr. Wright was facing two misdemeanor charges after Minneapolis police said he had carried a pistol without a permit and had run away from officers last June. Katie Wright told reporters that her son had been driving a car his family had given him two weeks ago and that he had called her as he was being pulled over.
“He said they pulled him over because he had air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror,” she said. Ms. Wright added that her son had been driving with his girlfriend when he was shot. The police said a woman in the car had been hurt in a crash that occurred as the vehicle kept moving after the shooting.
Chief Tim Gannon of the Brooklyn Center Police Department said in a news conference that it would use the body camera video of the shooting to determine whether Officer Potter would remain on the force.
“It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy her Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” he said (Bogel-Burroughs; Bosman; and Hubler 1-2).
A 2012 article published in the monthly law journal of Americans for Effective Law Enforcement documented nine cases in which officers shot suspects with handguns when they said they meant to fire stun guns dating back to 2001.
Reasons cited include officer training, the way they carry their weapons and the pressure of dangerous, chaotic situations. To avoid confusion, officers typically carry their stun guns on their weak sides — or their nondominant hand — and away from handguns that are carried on the side of their strong arms. This is the case in Brooklyn Center, where Gannon, the police chief, said officers are trained to carry a handgun on their dominant side and their stun gun on their weak side.
Bill Lewinski, an expert on police psychology and founder of the Force Science Institute in Mankato, Minnesota, has used the phrase “slip and capture” errors to describe the phenomenon. Lewinski, who has testified on behalf of police, has said officers sometimes perform the direct opposite of their intended actions under stress — their actions “slip” and are “captured” by a stronger response. He notes that officers train far more often on drawing and firing their handguns than they do on their stun guns.
Other experts express skepticism about the theory.
“There’s no science behind it,” said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina and an expert on police use of force. “It’s a good theory, but we have no idea if it’s accurate.”
Alpert said a major factor in why officers mistakenly draw their firearm is that stun guns typically look and feel like a firearm. St. Paul, Minnesota, Mayor Melvin Carter brought up the same point during a news conference Monday.
“Why do we even have Tasers that operate and function and feel and deploy exactly like a firearm?” Carter asked. “Why can’t we have Tasers that look and feel different? That you could never mistake for deploying a firearm so that we can ensure that mistake that has happened before can never happen again” (Murphy 1-2).
Before Sunday, Mr. Wright had been a young Black man unknown to the world, but known and loved by his friends and relatives in the Minneapolis area. He was a young father of a toddler who was almost 2, Daunte Jr. He loved basketball. As a freshman at Thomas Edison High School, he was voted a “class clown.”
But in the moments that his mother overheard in horror, her fears were realized, Ms. Wright said on Tuesday on “Good Morning America” and at a news conference in Minneapolis. Her son was shot by the police in what officials described as an accidental discharge, after a veteran white officer pulled and fired her firearm instead of her Taser as officers tried to handcuff him. Like Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and George Floyd, Mr. Wright’s name and life have become both a chant and symbol, and in the small universe of the Twin Cities region, the police killings of Black men share tragic connections.
Mr. Floyd’s girlfriend, Courteney Ross, was one of Mr. Wright’s former teachers, his family said.
Mr. Wright’s family said the young father did not have to suffer the same fate.
“He was loved. He was ours. This is no broken family,” said an aunt, Naisha Wright.
He was remembered as a dedicated father with a bright smile and outgoing demeanor.
The mother of his son, Chyna Whitaker, said in a Facebook post that the two had been amicably sharing custody of the child.
Mr. Wright attended Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis in 2018, said the school principal, Yusuf Abdullah.
“He was just like any other kid,” Mr. Abdullah said.
He had also attended Edison High School in Minneapolis, where he was voted class clown as a freshman, according to the school’s 2015-16 yearbook.
“He loved to make people laugh,” said Emajay Driver, a friend of Mr. Wright. “He was just great to be around. There was never a dull moment” (Martinez and Sandoval 2).
The city of Brooklyn Center late Wednesday released more materials from Potter's service file to The Associated Press. The file was released to AP through a request under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.
Potter received a chief's commendation in 2007 for her handling of a “suicidal homicidal suspect” and his 2-year-old daughter. A copy of the commendation said: “Your actions assisted in the safe release of the child and the apprehension of the suspect without incident.”
Other commendations were for Potter recovering a company's stolen computer in 2008; helping recover a child who was the subject of an Amber Alert in 2006; helping locate and arrest two bail-jumpers from Mississippi in 2006; and tracking down suspects in a home invasion robbery in 1998.
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The materials also included a four-hour suspension for Potter missing in-service training in 2000. The subject of the training wasn't given. Other discipline included a verbal reprimand in 2007 for Potter's work as part of a team focusing on violent robberies in part of the city. A supervisor wrote that Potter didn't do enough to make direct contact with people in the area.
The file also included reprimands for driving accidents in 1995, 1996 and 1998, respectively, including one where Potter spun out on wet pavement, hit a curb and caused up to $4,000 in damage to a squad car. The writeup in 1995, Potter's first year on the force, noted that she was backing a different squad car out of the police garage the next day and hit a city code enforcement vehicle.
In 2019, Potter was one of the first officers on the scene of a fatal police shooting when officers shot an autistic man, Kobe Dimock-Heisler, who had allegedly grabbed a knife, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Potter told two officers involved in the shooting to "exit the residence, get into separate squad cars, turn off their body worn cameras, and to not talk to each other," the newspaper reported, citing an investigative report from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.
Potter and other officers were awarded the Medal of Merit for their response in a house fire in 2014, according to KARE-TV (Aspegren 1).
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Friday that he will lead the prosecution of a former suburban police officer who is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright. Former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter, who is White, fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist, on April 11.
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Ellison said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, who manages the office's criminal division, will supervise the case. Frank was one of the trial attorneys in the case against Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder and manslaughter in the May 25 death of George Floyd. Ellison will actively assist in the case, and Freeman's office will also provide staff.
Ellison's office said a review of the evidence and charges against Potter is already underway.
"I did not seek this prosecution and do not accept it lightly," Ellison said. "I have had, and continue to have, confidence in how both County Attorney Orput and County Attorney Freeman have handled this case to date. ... Prosecutors are ministers of justice. This means we must and will follow justice wherever it leads."
Ellison said he will handle the prosecution responsibly and consistent with the law but that no one should expect the case will be easy to prosecute. His statement did not indicate whether murder charges would be filed (Daunte 1).
The mother of a teenage boy who was shot in the head and critically injured in 2019 has filed a civil lawsuit claiming the shooter was Daunte Wright …
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A newly filed lawsuit claims that Wright shot 16-year-old Caleb Livingston in the head at a Minneapolis gas station on May 14, 2019, leaving him with permanent physical and mental disabilities.
Livingston’s mother is seeking damages from Wright’s estate to help pay for her son’s continuing care.
Although Wright was not criminally charged before his death in connection with Livingston’s shooting, the civil court filings in the case allege that “evidence generated to date reveals that the perpetrator of this crime was Daunte Wright.”
Livingston’s mother also alleges in court documents that Wright was a gang member with a lengthy criminal history.
Daunte Wright and Caleb Livingston had been childhood friends, according to a memorandum filed in the lawsuit. In fact, it says Caleb’s “first sleep over as a boy was at Wright’s home.”
As time went on, though, there apparently was a falling out. Court filings say Livingston “beat up” Wright in front of others. That may have been a motive for what the lawsuit claims happened next.
Shortly after 9 o’clock on the night of May 14, 2019, the lawsuit says Livingston was at a gas station/convenience store in the 1800 block of Lowry Avenue in North Minneapolis. It claims Wright was there, too.
It alleges Wright “brandished, pointed, and discharged a firearm” at Livingston, with one bullet striking him in the head.
Caleb Livingston survived – but with severe and permanent injuries.
At the time, no one was charged in the shooting. But attorneys for Livingston’s mother point to new evidence they say links Wright to the crime.
One year later, in June 2020, Minneapolis police received a report about a man with gun. When they arrived, a criminal complaint alleges that Daunte Wright jumped out of a car and fled on foot. However, officers said they found a loaded black Ruger .45 caliber handgun on the floor of the car where Wright had been sitting.
Wright was charged with fleeing police and carrying a handgun without a permit.
In a recent filing, an attorney for Livingston’s mother told the court “Based on reasonable information and belief, this gun is being compared to the shell casings found at the scene” of the 2019 gas station shooting.
The filing says the Minneapolis Police Department has not released details because their investigation is “active and ongoing.”
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When Brooklyn Center police stopped Wright’s car for expired license plate tabs on April 11, officers discovered he had an outstanding arrest warrant for missing a court appearance in the illegal weapons possession case and fleeing police in June 2020.
He was also awaiting trial on felony robbery charges – accused of trying to rob a woman at gunpoint in December 2019 (Raguse and Eckert 1-2).
The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 from Wright’s estate due to “grievous and permanent injuries to Livingston’s body and nervous system, past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity, past and future medical expenses, past and future pain, suffering … and severe emotional distress”.
None of the allegations contained in the civil suit has been proven.
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Michael Padden, the lawyer representing Livingston’s family, told KARE 11 the lawsuit was filed “because of the statute of limitations. [Minnesota] law does not permit a case like this to be or remain sealed. Having said that, the allegations are valid” (Lawsuit 3).
[Paste the following on Google to watch CNN’s 3 minute 33 second video]
Bodycam footage of Daunte Wright shooting released - CNN ...
[Paste the following on Google to watch “The Daily Show”’s Trevor Noah comment on the shooting and police irresponsibility and brutality]
Daunte Wright's Death & America's Broken Policing System ...
Works cited:
Aspegren, Elinor. “Service File Reveals Commendations, Reprimands for Ex-Police Officer in Daunte Wright Shooting Death.” USA Today, May 6, 2021. Net. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/05/06/daunte-wright-kim-potters-service-police-reprimands-commendations/4979970001/
Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas; Bosman, Julie; and Hubler, Shawn. “Minnesota Officer Who Shot Daunte Wright Meant to Fire Taser, Chief Says.” The New York Times, updated April 16, 2021. Net. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/12/us/brooklyn-center-police-shooting-minnesota.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
“Daunte Wright Police Shooting To Be Prosecuted by Minnesota Attorney General's Office.” CBS News, updated May 21, 2021. Net. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/daunte-wright-shooting-keith-ellison-minnesota-attorney-general-prosecute-case/
“Lawsuit Claims Daunte Wright ‘Shot’ Teenager in June 2019.” Aljazeera, June 1, 2021. Net. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/1/lawsuit-claims-daunte-wright-shot-teenager-in-june-2019
Martinez, Andres R. and Sandoval, Edgar. “Daunte Wright Spent Final Moments Talking with His Mother.” The New York Times, updated April 23, 2021. net. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/us/daunte-wright-family.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
Murphy, Sean. “EXPLAINER: How Does an Officer Use a Gun Instead of a Taser?” AP News, April 12, 2021. Net. https://apnews.com/article/how-does-police-use-gun-instead-of-taser-explained-e6bb9c49b1bcdc244e3ec11d94137c82
Raguse, Lou and Eckert, Steve. “KARE 11 Investigates: Lawsuit Claims Daunte Wright Shot a Teenager in the Head.” KARE11, May 28, 2021. Net. https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/kare-11-investigates-lawsuit-claims-daunte-wright-shot-a-teenager/89-e0810410-f055-4bb0-9d67-7467939508c8
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