Court appearance today for former Brooklyn Center police officer charged with manslaughter

April 15, 2021

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — A former Minnesota police officer faces her first court appearance in the traffic-stop shooting of motorist Daunte Wright that has engulfed a small Minneapolis suburb with four straight days of bitter conflict between protesters and police.

Kim Potter, who quit her job on the Brooklyn Center force two days after Wright’s death, is expected to appear via Zoom on Thursday afternoon.

She was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter in what her chief said appeared to be a case of confusing her Taser with her handgun.

She was arrested and later freed after posting a $100,000 bond.

Wright’s death came as the broader Minneapolis area nervously awaits the outcome of the trial for Derek Chauvin, the first of four officers charged in George Floyd’s death.