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Officer Kim Potter and the chief of the local police of the city of Minneapolis, Tim Gannon, resigned from their posts, in the midst of the strong protests and disturbances in that city, after the shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, an African-American man, last Sunday.
Potter was the officer who shot Wright during a traffic stop in a city where another police officer is currently on trial for the death last year of George Floyd.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said he was "grateful" that Potter, 26, tendered her resignation, at a conference that also announced that Tony Gruenig will internally replace Gannon.
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Gannon claimed she believed Potter mistakenly grabbed her gun when she went for her Taser. She can be heard on her body cam video yelling "Taser! Taser!".
However, protesters and Wright's family members said there is no excuse for the shooting and argued that the justice system is biased against Black people, noting that Wright was pulled over for expired car registration and ended up dead.
As night fell, hundreds of protesters rallied with placards and shouting slogans in the rain outside the Brooklyn Center police station, despite a nighttime curfew announced hours earlier by authorities.
Protesters defied police through the fence erected around the station and held up banners reading "Jail all racist killer cops," "Am I next," and "No justice, no peace." The police fired tear gas grenades several times at the demonstrators and ordered them to disperse.
BREAKING: Kim Potter will be charged with 2nd Degree Manslaughter for the death of Daunte Wright.#JusticeForDaunteWright pic.twitter.com/8uLgvucpRY
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) April 14, 2021
In total, 40 people were arrested and several members of the security forces suffered minor injuries, according to police.
President Joe Biden called the death "tragic," and warned against any possible violent demonstrations. "There is absolutely no justification" for rioting, Biden said.
The modest suburb north of Minneapolis has seen its demographics change in recent years. In 2000, more than 70% of the city was inhabited by white people. Today, the majority of residents are Black, Asian or Latino, and the issue of racial discrimination continues to weigh heavily on U.S. society as a clear cause of systemic police abuse.
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