Kim Potter, former police officer for the Brooklyn Center Police Department, faces charges for the death of Daunte Wright. Daunte Wright was a twenty-year old black man, father of one and son of Katie Wright, who was fatally shot by ex-police officer Kim Potter.

Last year Daunte Wright was stopped at a traffic light for charges regarding an outstanding warrant just 10 miles away from the trial of Derek Chauvin (the officer who killed George Floyd in 2020). After he supposedly refused arrest. Kim Potter grabbed her gun out of her belt and yelled “taser taser taser” before fatally shooting Mr. Wright. She now faces chargers regarding the murder.

Potter’s story is that she mistook her taser for a handgun and shot Mr. Wright accidentally. However, controversy arose immediately after the incident as tasers and a Glock 17,19, or 26 (standard-issue guns) weigh significantly different. A taser is much lighter than the gun and is painted bright neon so as to easily distinguish the two. Not only this but a taser does not have a trigger safety while a gun does.

Potter worked in the police force for 26 years yet could not differentiate a gun and a taser. The common question that arose was: shouldn’t an officer who served for so long be able to tell the difference between a gun and a taser?

While facing manslaughter charges her defense attorney, Paul Engh, stated that Kim Potter “had the right to use deadly force to prevent Daunte Wright from driving away.” People believe that Daunte Wright was racially profiled. Although the officers had a warrant for his arrest it does not give them the right to inflict the death penalty upon him.

Kim Potter faces two manslaughter charges but “both prosecutors and defense lawyers agree the shooting was an accident.” However, some prosecutors say her actions “were criminally negligent.”