Cop Who Killed Daunte Wright Gets Hit With Additional Manslaughter Charge

BYCole Blake861 Views
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Daunte Wright, Kim Potter
The officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright is being hit with an additional manslaughter charge.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is adding an additional first-degree manslaughter charge against former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter for the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Potter shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop and later claimed that she intended to use her taser but mistakenly drew her pistol.

"After conducting that review — which included consulting with an expert in police use of force — Attorney General Ellison confirmed that the original second-degree manslaughter charge is appropriate, but also concluded that an upgraded charge of first-degree manslaughter is warranted," read a statement from the Attorney General Ellison.

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In a video from the incident, Potter can be heard shouting "Taser!" before she fires, followed by: "Holy shit, I just shot him. I grabbed the wrong fucking gun."

Potter faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for the first-degree manslaughter charge. Second-degree manslaughter can result in up to 10 years in prison.

Wright was pulled over for driving with expired tags and having an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror, which is prohibited in Minnesota. He had an outstanding warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons violation.

"It's disappointing to have her dragged through a political storm by Mr. Ellison, like he has with these police officers," defense attorney, Earl Gray said of Ellison's ruling.

[Via]


About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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