Daunte Wright, A life Gone To Soon
How Minnesota Police Officer, Kim Potter, followed in the Derek Chauvin’s footsteps, taking a black man’s life without just cause
So much hatred, so much racisms and so many lives taken! Black, Asian, Mexican and Jewish.
The killings need to stop and if they don’t, when a life is taken, then another life needs to be incarcerated. When incarceration doesn’t happen, the protest is on. People of color are sick and tired of such injustices at the hands of law enforcement throughout the Country.
Since when does traffic stops, sleeping in a car outside Wendy’s, jogging in a neighborhood, or shopping in a store with a fake twenty dollar bill, or a high speed chase justifies killing a person of color. These killings have the hallmark of the Tulsa Oklahoma Massacre, where a group of African American homes and businesses were bombed, burned down and thousands killed because they were prosperous, independent and contained themselves brought about jealousy and envy. The whites destroyed the entire town based on hearsay that some person of color made a comment to a white lady, and for this a whole town was destroyed. Other atrocities include the Rosewood story, and the Emmitt Teal story. The law enforcement was in the midst of all these tragedies.
Today history is being made, Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison, will be prosecuting Officer Kim Potter for second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Daunte Wright, a Black man, during a traffic stop April 11, 2021. Daunte Wright was stopped due to a hanging air fresher in his rear-view window.
Officer Kim Potter, white, fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20 year old unarmed Black man, claiming she thought she pulled her taser. A taser and a gun are very different, not only do they look different but they are different in everyway from weight, size, shape, etc. Yet, the city’s police chief, who latter stepped down said he believed her. Officer Kim Potter is a veteran on the police force and can not tell a taser from a gun? Ironically, Potter trained other officers since she had been on the force for decades. Yet, she does not know the difference between a taser and a gun.
Initially, Officer Potter was charged with manslaughter but there was much protest and outraged demanding that she be charged with murder and they are not willing to take noting less. Currently, all is under review via the shooting captured on video by Potter’s body-worn camera. Potter’s actions has close resemblance to another white police officer who mistakenly walked into a Black man’s apartment thinking it was her apartment and shot him to death as he slumbered.
According to one civil rights attorney, “The case rises to the level of murder charges, and this is not the situation where an officer should receive a slap on the wrist. … I don’t know why anyone should accept a manslaughter charge.”
Potter’s killing of Daunte Wright bespeaks of racial profiling as he was stopped and the situation was escalated by Potter. Why not give the young man a ticket and let him go? Why did it have to end this way? Did Potter feel threatened by this unarmed Black man of fear for her life, as she took his life?
For a minor violation, an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror, ends up in death. How is that explainable? According to the police, he had expired tags, and once stopped, it was discovered he had a warrant for a misdemeanor weapons charge. When the police proceeded to arrest Daunte Wright, after he had called his mother, as he pulled away Potter shot him.
Atty. General Ellison, along with Assistant General Matthew Frank, who manages the office’s criminal division, will supervise the case and was one of the trial attorneys’ in the Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.
Minnesota finally doing the right thing as Governor, Tim Walz, is lending his support in this case against Officer Potter. Showing good faith, the Governor and his wife hosted the Wright family at their governor’s residence to hear their desire pertaining to moving forward seeking justice for their son’s death and to have the most effective legal defense team to seek justice for their family. Confirming his support behind the Wright family he stated, “No verdict will bring Daunte back to his family, but I have full faith that Atty. Gen. Ellison will build the best team possible to pursue accountability for what happened that tragic day.”
In conclusion, another death bespeaks of injustice against people of color at the hands of law enforcement. Qualified immunity and desertification has caused this injustice to flourish over the years where police officers have been shielded from persecutions but that table is finally and slowly turning. Everyone should band together in eradicating such injustices with your vote and voices. Demand accountability and transparency.
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