Officer Kim Potter Has Been Improperly Charged with Manslaughter in the Death of Daunte Wright
April 14, 2021 8:21pm
The death of Daunte Wright is unfortunate. But once again, we have a person who REFUSED TO OBEY THE LAWFUL INSTRUCTIONS OF A POLICE OFFICER dead on the streets of America.
Did the fact that he resisted arrest and tried to flee justify the use of deadly force against him? Well, it appears the officer intended to tase him, but she accidentally used her firearm instead. Yet we once again have the race agitators inciting violent mobs based upon the false claim of systemic racism in America.
I am certain that Daunte Wright was not shot because he was a black man. Had he simply cooperated with the police, he would certainly be alive today. It is not skin color that determines survival during police encounters. It is behavior. If you behave, you live. If you don't behave... well, you're taking your chances that you may not.
But the race agitators of the Democrat Party have once again committed violence against people and businesses that had nothing to do with the traffic stop or the roadside shooting. So in an effort to appease the mob, prosecutors charged Kim Potter, the police officer who shot Wright, with second degree manslaughter.
But are such charges justified? No. In Minnesota, manslaughter in the second degree (Minnesota Statute 609.205) is when "by the person's culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another." That does not describe what Officer Potter did.
Firing a Glock pistol instead of a taser is certainly improper. The two weapons look different, feel different, and are worn on opposite sides of the body, so it is puzzling how such a mistake could be made. But is it negligence? Not necessarily. But because it would take several paragraphs to examine all the criteria that add up to negligence, I won't bother. Because it doesn't legally matter in this instance anyway.
Under Minnesota law, even a death caused through negligence is not automatically manslaughter. For it to be manslaughter, the person would ALSO have to have created an unreasonable risk AND CONSCIOUSLY TAKEN THE CHANCE OF CAUSING DEATH. And it is that last requirement where a manslaughter case against Potter completely falls apart. Since the use of a taser to stop a suspect who is resisting and/or fleeing is completely justified, and the use of a taser does carry the risk of causing death or great bodily harm, then that risk was not illegal. Ergo, the resulting death through the accidental use of a firearm instead of a taser was not illegal.
It was a tragic death. But it is not one Officer Potter intended. And while it is not a death Wright intended either, it is he - and only he - who is responsible for it.
Sometime next year, a jury will find Kim Potter to be Not Guilty of the charges against her. And the malcontent Leftist mob will riot then too. It is disgraceful that prosecutors have charged her with a crime she did not commit just to get the rioters to stop rioting. It would have been far better to explain to the angry mob why no crime was committed and how Daunte Wright would still be alive if he had not resisted arrest and attempted to flee. But that would require a commitment to the truth and the courage to speak it - something most government officials lack.
In closing, if you think the police should allow someone to get back into their car during an arrest, you need to watch this two minute video. Because you could not be more wrong.