You think that's bad the neighboring city to the west is Brooklyn Park. On the SW side of the Twin Cities Edina and Eden Prairie are right next to each other and there are also a Maple Grove and a Maplewood suburbs.
I think that was a bad move on the city's part. The cop was apparently the president of the union, too. City Manager was probably making sure the legal process was handled correctly and saving the city from liability in case of a wrongful termination. Of course, the mayor and city council played politics to boot him.
A friend of mine went to high school with LEO Potter and remained friends with her through the 90's. According to my friend, who is Asian but an adoptee, that she fell out with Potter because Potter was saying she was profiling black men and had expressed many racist sentiments. My friend believes that Potter knew what she was doing and deliberately shot Daunte Wright but yelled "taser!' to make it look like a mistake. This is opinion and possibly opinion that is colored by a bad falling out 20 years ago but if others can corroborate that Potter did express these attitudes more reason for an investigation.
The arrest turned physical but even accepting everything on face value Wright didn't deserve to die. It was a poor decision of Wright to resist but a horribly negligent decision of Potter to mix up her weapons.
Agreed. She should definitely be convicted of manslaughter at least. But after Philando Castile, who knows in Minnesota.
I am not surprised that Potter has had a history of profiling black people. However I do doubt she deliberately to shot the guy. She's gotta be aware enough, especially in today's climate that any shooting involving a black man and the police would be a career ender whether or not it was justified. I think she had an irrational fear of black people that's why she panicked so much. Hell at that distance even if she used a taser she could have ended up tazing her partner.
Based on the info and video I've seen so far, I'm kind of in the middle on this one. The kid is had a warrant for gun possession and running away. He obviously wasn't complying this time since he tried to resist arrest and being handcuffed, so that point, he's causing the situation. The police officer obviously sucks at her job(I'm biased against her since she is the head of the police union) if she can't tell the difference between a taser and her gun. I think it's just a pre-emptive excuse. At the very least she should be fired from her job for being sucky at it. Don't think she should get any jail time unless there is more information about her being a trigger happy hot head.
There was no reason for lethal force at the time. Potter knows that, too, as she's trying to deploy a taser. Cops called it a negligent discharge, resulting in death. Should easily be manslaughter.
Deploying a weapon when a person with a history of resisting and weapons is actively resisting isn't really that questionable. I do agree that she's a moron and negligent. I'm just not sure it's manslaughter. I would want more evidence and let a grand jury decide. From what I've seen, I wouldn't be amazingly upset if she wasn't charged. I'm saying this as a person who hates cops in general and literally would flip the switch on the cop in the Floyd case without feeling any guilt at all.
He did not deserve to die, I almost felt sorry for the female cop, she F`d up big time and it sounded like she was genuinely shocked at what happened, I have no clue how you mix up a tazer for a gun and everything happened so fast....I know its hindsight but why cant these cops deescalate the situation, IMO in many recent instances its the cops who escalate things.
I agree that having a weapon at the ready is within reason for someone with a violent criminal history, but I can't justify shooting in broad daylight until the suspect displays a weapon or assaults an officer. I don't consider Wright kicking while fleeing as a serious assault. His intentions were to flee. No chance to deescalate in this case. Wright escalated it for no reason.
At the point, the police justifiably brandishes a weapon, it's hard to delineate when discharge is justifiable between accidental, criminally negligent, to murder. I think at this point we are in between 2 and 3 and I don't think it's all that cut and dry from the evidence I've seen. I would hate to be the guy making the decision.
In Minnesota, second degree manslaughter is intended to cover negligent homicides. Below is the text of the statute. In my opinion, this case is clearly covered by the statute. Based on previous trials with police and second degree manslaughter, the test is whether there is a combination of both gross negligence and recklessness on the part of the officer. I would think this case fits that description.
I'm not a lawyer and definitely not a expert in MN law, but I'm not sure the police officer " creates an unreasonable risk," when pulling out the weapon was totally justifiable. Like I said, I would hate to be the guy making the decision in this case. I do think she should be fired immediately.
As far as the mix up, believe it. In a video game I pull the wrong trigger on a boss all the time even after a billion hours playing a game. To think that could not happen in real life in a panic situation, yeah, I think it could. All that said, someone dies wrongly, and the consequences must be paid. It's a risk they take when they sign up.
At the end of the day, even if she meant to pull a gun out instead of a taser, it was justifiable. The mistake is pulling the trigger in that situation. I'm just not sure if it was an F'ed up mistake or a criminally negligent mistake.
You can't just OOPs kill a guy and not expect to go to jail. Even that chick who walked into the wrong apartment got 10 years Even that cop who accidentally killed the lady got 12 years.
