The policewoman who shot dead a young black man near Minneapolis has been arrested and will be charged with manslaughter, the Minnesota Criminal Affairs Bureau, which oversees the investigation, said on Wednesday.
“Kim Potter was taken into custody around 11:30 a.m. [heure locale] “ and “Will be transferred to Hennepin County Jail for manslaughter charge (…) later in the day “, he said in a statement.
Three nights of demonstrations
The 48-year-old policewoman opened fire on Sunday at Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old African-American, during an ordinary traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, in the northern United States. She then assured to have confused her service weapon with her electric Taser pistol.
She resigned Tuesday, as did the Brooklyn Center Police Chief. She now faces up to ten years in prison.
The drama, which took place during the trial for the murder of African American George Floyd, was followed by three nights of protests peppered with violence.
Despite the establishment of a curfew and significant reinforcements, a tense face-to-face still opposed activists to the police on Tuesday evening, and 78 people were arrested.
Daunte Wright’s family took note of the prosecutor’s decision on Wednesday but criticized the policewoman’s justifications: “An agent with twenty-six years of experience knows the difference between a Taser and a firearm”their lawyer Ben Crump wrote in a statement. “We will continue to fight to obtain justice for Daunte, her family and all marginalized people of color. We will not stop until we have obtained real reforms of the police and the judiciary. “
