The legal team who represents the family of Daunte Wright has issued a statement after former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter was found guilty of manslaughter for his death.
“The family of Daunte Wright is relieved that the justice system has provided some measure of accountability for the senseless death of their son, brother, father and friend,” the statement from attorneys Benjamin Crump, Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms read. “From the unnecessary and overreaching tragic traffic stop to the shooting that took his life, that day will remain a traumatic one for this family and yet another example for America of why we desperately need change in policing, training and protocols. If we are ever going to restore the confidence of Black and marginalized Americans in law enforcement, we need to have accountability and a commitment to listening and to creating meaningful change.”
“We must now turn our attention to ensuring that Kim Potter receives the strongest and most just sentence possible,” they added. “It is also imperative that we focus on the conduct of Brooklyn Center and pinpoint its systemic failures that contributed to Daunte’s unlawful death.”
As REVOLT previously reported, on Thursday (Dec. 23), Potter was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter charges. A predominately white jury deliberated for about 27 hours over the course of four days since hearing closing arguments from both sides.
Potter previously pleaded not guilty to the charges after saying that she mistakenly used her firearm instead of her taser. During the trial, she took the stand and told jurors that she “didn’t want to hurt anybody.” Potter testified that she remembered “yelling, ‘Taser, taser, taser,’ and nothing happened, and then he told me I shot him.”
Judge Regina Chu announced that Potter will be sentenced on Feb. 18, 2022 at 10 a.m. ET.