The family of Daunte Wright said they felt “cheated” of justice on Friday after the white former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter received just 24 months in prison for the manslaughter of the 20-year-old Black motorist during a traffic stop last year.
Judge Regina Chu said that Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center police department, made “a tragic mistake” when she shot Wright with her Glock 9mm service pistol in April 2021, thinking she was pulling out her Taser.
Potter, 49, who was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter in December, was a “respected officer” who was “acting in the line of duty” when she shot Wright, Chu concluded, justifying a “significant downward departure” in sentencing guidelines that could have seen her impose up to eight and a half years.
Speaking outside the Hennepin county courthouse in Minneapolis shortly after the hearing’s conclusion, Arbuey Wright, Daunte Wright’s father, broke down in tears as he condemned the sentence.
“I feel cheated. I feel hurt. I’m very upset that my son’s life was taken, and it seemed to me nobody even cared enough,” he said, referring to Potter’s own tearful apology in court to his family.
“It was like they were so tied up into her feelings and what was going on with her that they forgot about my son being killed. I feel like we were tricked. We actually thought we were going to get a little justice … but I walk out of this courthouse feeling like people are laughing at us because this lady got a slap on the wrist.”
Katie Bryant, Daunte Wright’s mother, added: “Yes, we got a conviction, and we thank everybody for that, but this isn’t OK. A white woman’s tears trumped justice.”
A group of demonstrators was seen gathering outside Chu’s home on Friday to protest against the sentencing.
In a statement, Keith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney general who prosecuted Potter, said he “accepted” the judge’s sentence, and hoped Potter would use her experience to educate other police officers.
“I urge everyone to accept her judgment. I don’t ask you to agree with her decision, which takes nothing away from the truth of the jury’s verdict,” he wrote.
“What can we do now? We can talk. We can try to understand. We can change policy, and we can work together. Ms Potter could make a powerful contribution. She could have a profound impact on police officers, departments, and manufacturers about the urgency of ending weapons confusion and saving lives.
“It will be up to her to show that she can do this with true remorse and make true amends.”
With credit for time already served since her conviction, and a third of the sentence on supervised release, Potter could be free within 14 months.
“I recognize there will be those who disagree with the sentence. [It] does not in any way diminish Daunte Wright’s life. His life mattered,” Chu said. “To those who disagree and feel a longer prison sentence is appropriate, as difficult as it may be, please try to empathize with Ms Potter’s situation.”
Wright’s family had joined prosecutors in calling for the maximum sentence, Bryant insisting in court on Friday that Potter “failed Daunte, our family and our community”.
“She was a person of authority who betrayed her badge, not only when she shot Daunte, but when she rolled around on the ground crying for herself,” Bryant said.
“She should have said, ‘Please help him.’ She didn’t even try. A police officer who was supposed to serve and protect took so much away from us. On this day she did not protect. She left our world with so much darkness and heartache.”
Addressing Potter directly, she added: “I’ll never be able to forgive you for what you’ve stolen from us.”
Daunte Wright’s sister, Diamond Wright, highlighted killings of Black men by white police officers in her own victim impact statement, alluding to the 2020 murder of George Floyd by former officer Derek Chauvin, also in Minneapolis.
Chauvin was convicted of Floyd’s murder nine days after Wright’s killing, in the same courthouse as Potter was sentenced on Friday.
“I remember when Daunte was alive and the George Floyd killing was being discussed,” Ms Wright said.
“Me, my mom and Daunte were having a talk, saying just maybe we have enough whiteness for us not to be a threat to the police. We were wrong.”
In handing down the sentence, Chu said there were no comparisons with Floyd’s killing.
“This is not a cop found guilty of murder for using his knee to pin down a person for nine and a half minutes as he gasped for air,” she said.
“This is a cop who made a tragic, tragic mistake. She drew her firearm thinking it was a Taser and ended up killing a young man.”
The death of Wright, who had a two-year-old son, sparked several days of violent protest outside the Brooklyn Center police headquarters. He was killed after officers pulled over his vehicle for having an expired tag, and an air freshener hanging in the rear window, contrary to Minnesota law.
In police body-cam footage of the shooting, Potter is heard shouting “Taser, taser, taser,” before firing the fatal shot, something Chu said confirmed her belief that her “conduct was significantly less serious than your usual manslaughter case.
“Police officers and experts testified that the use of her Taser was reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances. The fact she never intended to draw her firearm makes this case less serious than other cases.”
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani, the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, disagreed with Chu’s reasoning.
“This is a miscarriage of justice. For someone to kill another human being, even if it wasn’t intentional, and for that person to get a two-year sentence is an unjust result,” he told the Guardian in a statement.
“I understand she had no criminal history and that she’s remorseful, but this is someone who didn’t accept responsibility for her conduct and pushed her case all the way to trial. Not only that, but she got on the stand and testified, and the jury rejected her testimony. This was not a fair and just sentence.”