© HandoutFormer Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter poses for a mugshot at the Hennepin County Jail on April 14, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Handout
- Kim Potter has been charged with second-degree manslaughter over the death of Daunte Wright.
- Potter shot Wright during a traffic stop Sunday. She resigned as a police officer and was arrested.
- Potter was released on a $100,000 bond. Images show her home surrounded by new barriers and fencing.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Kim Potter, the former police officer who killed Daunte Wright and sparked a new wave of anti-racism protests in the Minneapolis area, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Potter was arrested on Wednesday and charged over the death of Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, whom she killed during a police traffic stop Sunday in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Potter, a 26-year veteran of the city police department, resigned soon after.
After posting $100,000 bail, Potter was released to await trial, per jail records reviewed by Insider. She is due in court on Thursday afternoon, the records say.
Insider reported Wednesday that fencing and a concrete barrier has been put up around her home in a Minneapolis suburb as a security measure.
There were protests for several nights after Wright's killing, as people demonstrated against what they claim is entrenched racism in policing.
Under Minnesota law, second-degree manslaughter is defined as "culpable negligence" involving "an unreasonable risk" where a person "consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another."
If Potter is found guilty, the crime carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a $20,000 fine.
Police said that Potter and another officer stopped Wright for a routine traffic violation Sunday, and attempted to take him into custody when they discovered he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
Bodycam video shows a confrontation with Wright in which Potter draws her gun and shoots him dead. Wright then fled, said police, and Potter shot him dead.
According to police Potter had intended to hit Wright with her Taser, but accidentally drew her pistol and fired it. In the bodycam footage, Potter shouts "Taser!" several times before firing the gun.
Potter resigned in the wake of the killing, as did Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon.
Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney who is representing the Wright family, dismissed the claim that the shooting was an accident in a statement released after Potter was charged.
"This was no accident This was an intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force," said Crump.
"Driving while Black continues to result in a death sentence. A 26-year veteran of the force knows the difference between a taser and a firearm."
Wright's killing has led to renewed anti-racism protests in the Minneapolis area, with a curfew imposed in several suburban areas of Minneapolis after several nights of unrest, local media reported.
The killing of Wright took place not far from the site where George Floyd was killed last year.
Floyd's killing led to protests against racist policing in the wake of the death sweeping the US last summer. Tensions were already high in the city ahead of Wright's killing, with the officer accused of murdering Floyd, Derek Chauvin, currently on trial.
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