Officer Who Shot Daunte Wright Found Guilty of Manslaughter

A jury in Minnesota found Kim Potter, the former police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter on Thursday. 

The jury’s verdict, read by Judge Regina Chu, came after 27 hours of deliberation. Potter had maintained that she confused her gun for her Taser when she shot Wright, a 20-year-old black man, during a traffic stop in April. First-degree manslaughter involves causing death while committing a misdemeanor, in this case the reckless use of a firearm; second-degree manslaughter involves causing death while creating “an unreasonable risk” of “causing death or great bodily harm to another.” The maximum penalties are 15 years and 10 years, respectively. Judge Chu denied a request for Potter’s release prior to her sentencing, saying, “I cannot treat this case any differently than any other case.”

Coverage was immediately widespread, with some large outlets featuring “live coverage” of the trial in the hours leading up to the verdict’s announcement. Outlets across the spectrum featured coverage of the verdict prominently on homepages. While Potter’s sentencing will occur on Feb. 18, coverage varied in predicting how many years Potter would face in prison.