Daunte Wright’s Mother Says She Was Injured By A Police Officer
Katie Wright, the mother of Daunte Wright, claims she was assaulted by a police officer.
According to CNN, on the evening of May 4 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Katie Wright pulled over her car and began filming on her cell phone someone being arrested. Wright was several lanes away from the arrest but saw a “high police presence.” She recorded the interaction on Facebook Live as she was confronted by officers for filming.
An officer crosses several lanes to tell Wright to stop recording. CNN reports the officer said to her, "You're going to give me your driver's license or I'm going to take you to jail for obstruction.” He placed his hands on Wright’s wrist and took away her cell phone.
Wright responds with, "You know who I am right? You guys killed my son and I'm gonna videotape it," she stated and pointed in the area of the traffic stop. "And if you take me to jail, I'm going to sue you."
"You can't sit on the side of the road!" the officer says Wright.
"Do not ever touch me again," she retros
"I'll send you a ticket in the mail.”
Katie Wright says she has an injured wrist but otherwise that she is okay, according to her Facebook post.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott told CNN, "I'm really sad to see how Ms. Wright was treated.” He said it "seemed unnecessary to approach Ms. Wright” and "whatever was happening in the police situation that they were dealing with, had largely subsided."
The city of Brooklyn Center released the following statement, "While assisting another agency on a high-risk stop as part of a homicide investigation, there was an encounter between Katie Wright and Brooklyn Center officers." The city released the body camera footage "in an effort to promote public safety and dispel widespread rumor or unrest."
Katie Wright said during a May 5 press conference, "All I was doing was my civic duty to pull over and make sure that those babies got home safe to their families because I don't want what happened to me to happen to any other families.”
The officer's actions are currently under review but Wright is calling for him to be fired.
Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was driving his car along a road in Brooklyn Center, Minn., when he was pulled over by police for expired tags. When they realized he also had warrants out for his arrest, officers attempted to handcuff him. But Potter’s body camera shows that when he tried to get back into his car, she shouted “taser, taser,” but instead of using the taser, she pulled her service revolver out and shot him. He reentered his car and drove away, but crashed into another car not far from the scene and was pronounced dead.
Potter, a 26-year veteran, resigned from the Brooklyn Center police force as did police chief Tim Gannon. She was arrested within days and charged with second-degree manslaughter and the first-degree charge was added later. She claimed that she mistook her gun for her service weapon and never meant to shoot Wright.
She was convicted Dec. 23, 2021, on the manslaughter charges and given a two-year sentence. She will spend 16 months behind bars and the rest on probation.
