Attorney General Keith Ellison recently announced his decision to up the charges against former Police Officer Kim Potter, who was involved in the death of Daunte Wright in April.
Ellison said Thursday that a first-degree manslaughter charge will be added by prosecutors on top of the second-degree manslaughter charge that already exists for Potter.
Ellison explained that the decision to add a charge “constitutes the entirety of the Attorney General’s Office’s public comment”.
Then additional charge comes after Ellison and state prosecutors took the case from the Washington County attorney. They had conducted their own investigation after taking over.
Wright was pulled over in April and officers discovered an outstanding warrant for his arrest. In the attempt to arrest him, Wright escaped from the officers who detained him and he was able to get back in his car. While he attempted to drive off, Potter yelled “Taser! Taser!”.
Instead of pulling her taser, Potter grabbed her handgun and shot Wright, which was claimed to be a mistake. Wright managed to drive off but crashed his car, injuring a passenger. Wright’s lawyers argued that a police officer should know the difference between a gun and a taser.
Both Potter and Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon resigned following the incident. Potter wrote, “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”.