Some More Justice In Minnesota
INDIANAPOLIS—For the second time in less than a year, a jury in Minnesota found a police officer guilty in the shooting of an unarmed Black man.
This time, it was suburban Twin Cities police officer Kim Potter guilty of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Daunte Wright. Potter shot Wright during a traffic stop when, as she testified and as the video footage of the incident suggested, she mistook her firearm for her taser.Her conviction came not long after Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd by kneeling with all his weight on Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 excruciating minutes. Chauvin and his fellow police officers had detained and handcuffed Floyd on suspicion that he’d passed a $20 counterfeit bill.
These convictions are as they should be.
I don’t doubt that the regret Potter expressed over Wright’s death was and is genuine. It’s also likely that she genuinely thought she was going to use her taser rather than her gun during the tragedy—even though the taser was holstered on her other hip.
But the fact is that she violated Minnesota law. Even her defense team acknowledged that—perhaps inadvertently—by basing her case on the remorse she felt and the pressures of the moment rather than a defense of her actions under the law.
If they’d had an argument to make under Minnesota law, doubtless they would have made it.
This is important.
If we don’t hold accountable for breaking the law those who are empowered to enforce it, the idea of law itself loses meaning.
It is true that police officers are human beings and make mistakes, just as the rest of us do.
Most of us, though, must pay for our mistakes. When the mistake costs another human being his life, that payment often is a stiff one.
Potter likely will spend several years in prison paying for her error.
That is unfortunate for her.
But it was even more unfortunate for Daunte Wright.
That brings us to another reason Potter’s conviction matters.
The rationale for the traffic stop that ended Wright’s life was that his car had an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror. Minnesota law states that the front windshield view cannot be obstructed in any way.
I have family in the Twin Cities and visit there. I often drive because I like to see the country on the way and have my own car while I’m there.
I have a parking permit for my workplace on my rearview mirror. It hangs down about as far as an air freshener would.
It, too, is a violation of Minnesota law. (Now that I know this is the case, I will take the permit down when I drive in the state.)
In all my travels to Minneapolis and St. Paul, I’ve never been pulled over because my front windshield view was obscured in a minor way. I certainly never have been threatened with a taser or a gun.
That may be because I’m an old white guy, not a young Black one.
If I were pulled over, most likely the officer or officers simply would ask me to remove the permit and then send me on my way. The incident never would have a chance to escalate to violence and tragedy because certain presumptions would be made in my favor.
That wasn’t the case for Daunte Wright.
He died, without a trial, because there was an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror of the car he was driving.
George Floyd died, also without a trial, because he might have passed a $20 counterfeit bill. (If he did, it’s impossible to know now whether he even realized it was counterfeit.)
In a just country—one that honors the rule of law—neither offense merits anything close to the death penalty.
The fact that two men died—and that many others do for other such relatively trivial offenses—is a crime.
And it is just that the people who committed the crime will pay for it.
He also was driving with expired plates, had a warrant for his arrest for not appearing in court for a GUN CHARGE. He illegally had a gun in the car and it was in open sight. He got out of the car and then pushed off the officers and jumped back in the car and drove off pulling one of the officers with him, all the while as Potter was yelling TASER TASER TASER!. Of course you know he was wanted for theft, domestic abuse and a host of other charges. Wright was no angel, a suit has been filed against his estate because of his thieving ways. He should have been in prison years ago, that would be actual justice. It was purely an accident that he was shot. Potter need not be awarded for what happened but she is more of a hero than the travesty of that trial was. Knowing facts that weren’t brought up in the trial, for whatever reason, shines a huge light on the truth rather than the knee jerk reaction of some obscure ‘columnist’ rants away with.
Wright also had an expired license plate and a warrant for his arrest. Once that was realized the chaos began. He skipped his court appearance and had he appeared he may have been in jail and alive today!
So you completely bypassed the fact that the driver was uncooperative and that he physically fought with her partner. Yes, she does feel bad, which she should; but don’t broad stroke this as an innocent black guy that did no wrong. Be fair to both sides.
Mr.krull,
There was a warrant out for the arrest of Daunte Wright, and had he not resisted arrest then he would not have forced officer Potter into making the mistake of her life.
You totally bias piece of writing is just more fake woke news, and not worth the digital space it is written on.
George Floyd wasn’t under suspicion of passing a fake 20 dollar bill he did commit that crime just like he had done 5 felony trips for dealing drugs to prison. He also resisted arrest and had he not taken 4 times the amount of fetynol he might not have died?
Do I think Chauvin was right in his conduct not at all, but if you get pulled over by law enforcement then do what they tell you to do.
That is the moral of the story not this woke BS you keep driveline.
STOP SEEING COLOR.
We are all Americans.
Crap writing like this just perpetuates racism because it sure in the hell doesn’t solve anything
Daunte Write died because he decided to attempt to flee from the police. I am a middle aged white man, and I have been stopped for having an object hanging from my rear view mirror. I am alive today because I stopped when the officer signaled for me to stop, red lights flashing behind me. And I didn’t decide to attempt to flee afterwards. I believe he also had expired plates on his car. That is justification for him to be pulled over. Then it was discovered that he had an outstanding warrant. So now if you don’t feel like stopping, you can just flip them the bird and go on your merry way?
Journalist my rear……..krull and today’s marxist demoncrats are destroying this country on purpose……….GOD BLESS our POLICE as they have to keep going after the same animals…………Sad times indeed…..
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