Protester carries a pigs head on a STAKE during fourth day of clashes with police in Minnesota
Minnesota cops arrest 24 as they clash with BLM protesters brandishing a pig’s head on a stake on fourth night of chaos in wake of Daunte Wright’s death
- One demonstrator said officer Kim Potter ‘committed an act of war’ when she shot dead Daunte Wright
- Potter, 48, was on Wednesday charged with second-degree manslaughter for killing 20-year-old Wright
- She posted $100,000 bond Wednesday evening and was released from the Hennepin County jail
- Shortly after 9pm, police announced over a loudspeaker that the protest in Brooklyn Center was unlawful
- The well-before-curfew dispersal order came after state officials said people were throwing things at police and trying to dismantle the fence — the same reason cited for Tuesday’s early order
- Shortly before the dispersal order, some protesters threw objects at police, who responded with gas canisters
- Some officers could be seen spraying a chemical on protesters who formed a wall with umbrellas
- Outside Potter’s home in Champlin, concrete barricades and tall metal fencing had been set up
Minnesota police have arrested 24 people amid clashes with Black Lives Matter protesters brandishing a pig’s head on a stake on a fourth night of chaos on Wednesday following the police shooting of a black man there days earlier.
One anonymous demonstrator said former officer Kim Potter ‘committed an act of war’ when she shot dead Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on Sunday.
Police had on Wednesday declared a protest in the city unlawful well before the 10pm curfew following clashes.
One protester – pictured holding a pig’s head in cop’s hat – told Sean Hannity Wednesday: ‘We don’t use tear gas. We don’t use gas.’ After it was pointed out that projectiles are ‘harmful’, the protester added: ‘Of course, but that’s the only way they’re going to learn anything.
‘That’s the only way that things could ever change is if people start throwing things. The institution of policing is bad. There’s probably some really good folks…but they just have terrible jobs.’
Potter, 48, was on Wednesday charged with second-degree manslaughter – which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison – for killing 20-year-old Wright. She posted $100,000 bond Wednesday evening and was released from the Hennepin County jail, online records showed.
She is scheduled to make her initial court appearance Thursday afternoon, after quit quitting her job on the Brooklyn Center police force two days after Wright’s death.
The demonstrator said of Potter making bond: ‘To me, that’s pretty much an outrage. I think that this lady essentially works for a occupying force here and she committed an act of war on somebody. I consider that an act of war. And she should not be out on bond. And it is not manslaughter. It is an act of war.’
Potter’s police chief said appeared to be a case of confusing her Taser with her handgun. But many protesters and Wright’s family members have rejected that, saying either that they don’t believe it or that the incident reflects bias in policing, with Wright stopped for an expired car registration and ending up dead.
Wright’s death came as the broader Minneapolis area nervously awaits the outcome of the trial for Derek Chauvin, the first of four officers charged in George Floyd’s death.
The shooting death has ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police. In cities around the country – including New York City, Georgia and Philadelphia – protesters have taken to the streets.
A riot was declared in Portland on Tuesday after a police union building was set on fire. In Washington DC protesters chanted ‘burn the precinct to the ground’.
A protester carrying a pigs head on a stake has said the only way things change is ‘if people start throwing things’ during a fourth night of unrest in Minnesota Wednesday following the police shooting of a black man there
Protesters hold up a pig’s head wearing a police cap on a stick outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department Wednesday
Shortly after 9 p.m., police announced over a loudspeaker that the protest was an unlawful assembly
An injured demonstrator is assisted by medics during a protest over Sunday’s fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Wednesday, April 14, 2021
A protester is helped following clashes with police Wednesday, the fourth night in a row demonstrators have taken to the streets
A person has their eyes flushed after being pepper sprayed outside the Brooklyn Center police headquarters on April 14, 2021 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
A protester is pictured on the floor during clashed with police Wednesday. A second demonstrator appears to be protecting her with an umbrella shield
Demonstrators gather outside of the Brooklyn Center police station on Wednesday. This is the fourth day of protests in the suburban Minneapolis city following the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by police officer Kimberly Potter
Some officers could be seen spraying a chemical on protesters who formed a wall with umbrellas. Potter, 48, was on Wednesday charged with second-degree manslaughter – which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison – for killing 20-year-old Wright. She posted $100,000 bond Wednesday evening and was released from the Hennepin County jail
The shooting death has ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police. Demonstrators face off with sheriff deputies during a protest at the Brooklyn Center police station on Wednesday
The well-before-curfew dispersal order came after state officials said people were throwing things at police and trying to dismantle the fence — the same reason cited for Tuesday’s early order
Shortly before the dispersal order, some protesters threw objects at police, who responded with gas canisters
Sheriff’s deputies and guardsmen stand guard behind the fenced up perimeters of the Brooklyn Center Police Department Wednesday, as protests continue days after former police officer Kim Potter fatally shot Daunte Wright
Brooklyn Center announced a curfew of 10 p.m. Wednesday — the fourth night in a row that the city has taken that action
Pepper spray is used from behind the fenced up perimeters of the Brooklyn Center Police Department Wednesday
The charge against former Brooklyn Center police Officer Kim Potter was filed three days after Wright was killed during a traffic stop and as the nearby murder trial progresses for the ex-officer charged with killing George Floyd last May
Potter, 48, and Police Chief Tim Gannon both resigned Tuesday, a day after the City Council voted to fire the city manager, who controls the police force. Protesters are pictured Wednesday
Police say Wright was pulled over for expired tags on Sunday, but they sought to arrest him after discovering he had an outstanding warrant. The warrant was for his failure to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June. Protesters carry a pigs head Wednesday
Pictured: A demonstrator has a seizure during a standoff with police at a protest about Sunday’s fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department, Wednesday, April 14, 2021, in Brooklyn Center
Pictured CNN reporter Miguel Marquez gets pelted with a water belt and is quickly ushered away from the scene by his security detail after the crowd turned on the CNN news crew
Pictured: A CNN security guard recovers from a punch to the face after the crowd turned on the CNN news station
Large crowds gathered at the Brooklyn Center Police Department for a fourth night of unrest. Pictured a CNN security guard recovers from a punch to the face after the crowd turned on the CNN news station, April 14, 2021
Brooklyn Center announced a curfew of 10 p.m. Wednesday — the fourth night in a row that the city has taken that action. Mike Elliott, the mayor, urged people to protest without violence, saying ‘your voices have been heard.’
As night fell, several hundred demonstrators had gathered outside the police headquarters.
Video showed several protesters carrying Black Lives Matter banners as well as the demonstrator with a fake pig’s head hoisted on a pole. Police monitored the growing crowd from the structure’s rooftop.
‘Say his name! Daunte Wright!’ demonstrators chanted under a mix of snow and rain.
Groups of demonstrators persisted in taunting sheriff’s deputies lined up behind a chain-link fence in front of the building, throwing objects over the barrier. The officers in turn periodically approached the fence to douse those on the other side with pepper spray.
Similar activity on Tuesday night ended with deputies abruptly advancing on protesters with volleys of tear-gas, non-lethal rounds and flash-bang devices to disperse the crowd, two hours before a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect.
Responding to criticism that officers used heavy-handed tactics unnecessarily, Mayor Mike Elliott said on Wednesday that the county sheriff’s office, rather than city police, was handling crowd control.
‘Gassing, in my opinion, is not a humane way of policing,’ Elliott told reporters. He also urged demonstrators to remain peaceful, saying: ‘The eyes of the world are on Brooklyn Center.’
As a curfew took effect on Wednesday night, law enforcement backed by National Guard troops moved again to break up the crowds with pepper spray and flash-bangs, though no tear gas appeared to have been immediately used.
Potter shot and killed Wright Sunday during a traffic stop just 10 miles from the courthouse where another white cop Derek Chauvin is currently being tried for the murder of black man George Floyd.
A total of 79 people had been arrested during protests Tuesday night.
Kimberly Potter, 48, left, was released from the Hennepin County jail at 5.38pm after posting a $100,000 bond after she was charged for the shooting death of Daunte Wright, right
Police guarded Potter’s home on Tuesday night and fencing was erected around it. After George Floyd’s death last year, protesters demonstrated several times at the home of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer now on trial in his death
Family members of the slain motorist, Daunte Wright, 20, have rejected the notion that a mere accident was to blame for Sunday’s shooting in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, with Wright’s grieving brother denouncing the police as ‘trigger happy’
Sunday’s shooting roiled a region already on edge, as last year’s killing of George Floyd was being recounted in graphic detail in the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, charged with his murder
Sunday’s shooting immediately ignited a night of street skirmishes between police and protesters in Brooklyn Center, with local news reporting looting and burglaries of about 20 businesses at a shopping center. The city is pictured Wednesday
Disturbances had flared on Wednesday, as hundreds of protesters defied a curfew and clashed with law enforcement as darkness fell outside police headquarters in Brooklyn Center
Some in crowd have hurled bottles and other projectiles and lighting off fireworks. Brooklyn Center Police Station is pictured Wednesday
During a memorial vigil Monday evening at the spot where Wright was killed, relatives remembered him as a good-natured father who worked multiple jobs to support his 2-year-old son and voiced anguish over his death at the hands of police
An injured demonstrator is assisted by medics during a protest over Sunday’s shooting death of Daunte Wright, outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department, Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Pictured: A woman holds up a sign that reads ‘Justice for Wright’ as large crowds gathered at the Brooklyn Center Police Department for a fourth night of unrest
Demonstrators use umbrellas for protection as police fire pepper spray and rubber bullets during a protest outside of the Brooklyn Center police station on April 14, 2021 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
Shortly after 9 p.m., police announced over a loudspeaker that the protest was an unlawful assembly and ordered people to disperse.
The well-before-curfew dispersal order came after state officials said people were throwing things at police and trying to dismantle the fence — the same reason cited for Tuesday’s early order.
Shortly before the dispersal order, some protesters threw objects at police, who responded with occasional gas canisters.
Some officers could be seen spraying a chemical on protesters who came near the fence surrounding the heavily guarded station, and officers fired sporadic projectiles. Protesters near the fence formed a wall with umbrellas.
Outside Potter’s home in Champlin, north of Brooklyn Center, concrete barricades and tall metal fencing had been set up and police cars were in the driveway. After Floyd’s death last year, protesters demonstrated several times at the home of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer now on trial in Floyd’s death.
Businesses in downtown Minneapolis were pictured being boarded up and fenced in on Wednesday while National Guard troops deployed ahead of the outcome of the Chauvin trial were seen.
Large crowds gathered at the Brooklyn Center Police Department for a fourth night of unrest. Pictured CNN reporter Miguel Marquez and his security being pelted with eggs and fleeing from the scene Wednesday
ictured CNN reporter Miguel Marquez gets pelted with a water belt and is quickly ushered away from the scene by his security detail after the crowd turned on the CNN news crew
Mike Elliott, the mayor, urged people to protest without violence, saying ‘your voices have been heard’
Video showed several protesters carrying Black Lives Matter banners as well as the demonstrator with a fake pig’s head hoisted on a pole
Police monitored the growing crowd from the structure’s rooftop. ‘Say his name! Daunte Wright!’ demonstrators chanted under a mix of snow and rain
A sheriff’s deputy is seen inside an armored vehicle in the fenced up perimeter of the Brooklyn Center Police Department Wednesday
Medics tend to Casey Clements, who was hit with a chemical irritant round outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department
A shopping mall that had it’s store front windows broken and was looted during the previous night’s unrest is boarded up near the Brooklyn Center police station in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 14, 2021
Fireworks explode behind a demonstrator as she holds a sign while gathering near the Brooklyn Center police station on Wednesday
Sheriff deputies in riot gear form a line during a protest Wednesday. This is the fourth day of protests in the suburban Minneapolis city following the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter, who has since resigned from the force and today was charged with second-degree manslaughter
Law enforcement officers look on from behind fences as protesters rally Wednesday
Demonstrators face off with sheriff deputies during a protest Wednesday
A cloud of smoke hangs over demonstrators during the protest Wednesday
The shooting death has ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police. In cities around the country – including New York City, Georgia and Philadelphia – protesters have taken to the streets. A riot was declared in Portland on Tuesday after a police union building was set on fire. In Washington DC protesters chanted ‘burn the precinct to the ground’
Wright’s death came as the broader Minneapolis area nervously awaits the outcome of the trial for Derek Chauvin, the first of four officers charged in George Floyd’s death. Pictured: A protester holds a picture with the words ‘Justice for George Floyd’
Police officers stand of the roof of the Brooklyn Center Police Station, April 14 2021. Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter fatally shot Duante Wright during a traffic stop
Hennepin County Sheriff Officers aim tear gas aerosol cans through a chain link fence as demonstrators rally outside the Brooklyn Center police station to protest the death of Daunte Wright who was shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 14, 2021
Pictured: A protester confronts police through a chain link fence with Daunte Wight’s name written on her face as demonstrators rally outside the Brooklyn Center police station to protest the death of Daunte Wright who was shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 14, 2021
A protester shouts outside the Brooklyn Center police station while protesting the death of Daunte Wright who was shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 14, 2021
The former Brooklyn Center police chief has said that Potter, a 26-year veteran and training officer, intended to use her Taser on Wright but fired her handgun instead.
‘Certain occupations carry an immense responsibility and none more so than a sworn police officer,’ Imran Ali, Washington County assistant criminal division chief, said in a statement announcing the charge against Potter. ‘(Potter’s) action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable.’
Police say Wright was pulled over for expired tags on Sunday, but they sought to arrest him after discovering he had an outstanding warrant. The warrant was for his failure to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June.
According to the criminal complaint, Luckey and Potter pulled Wright over while he was driving his white Buick at 63rd and Orchard Avenues North in Brooklyn Center at 1.53pm Sunday.
Four minutes later at 2:01:31, Luckey and Potter approached the driver’s side of the car and asked Wright to get out and place his hands behind his back, according to the report.
Wright did as the officers asked and Luckey told him he was being arrested for his outstanding warrant.
Both Wright and Luckey stood just outside of the open driver’s side door, while Potter stood behind and to the right of the other officer, the report says.
New York City: People attend a vigil for police shooting victims Daunte Wright and Dominique Lucious at Washington Square Park in New York City Wednesday
Atlanta, Georgia: Demonstrators march to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights while protesting the shooting death of Daunte Wright Wednesday
Demonstrators march to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights while protesting the shooting death of Daunte Wright on April 14, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia
Demonstrators march to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights while protesting the shooting death of Daunte Wright on April 14, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia
Chicago: A protester lies on the ground as others follow to take a knee during a peaceful protest on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 along South Michigan Ave. in Chicago ahead of the video release of fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo
Seconds later at 2:01:49, Wright reportedly pulled away from the officers and got back into the car, with Luckey trying to maintain physical control of him, according to the complaint.
At 2:01:55, Potter then said she would us the Taser on Wright.
Instead, she pulled her Glock 9mm handgun with her right hand and pointed it at Wright, saying again that she would use the Taser on him.
Potter shouted ‘Taser, Taser, Taser,’ as she pulled the trigger on her handgun at 2:02:01, firing one round into the left side of the victim, the complaint states.
Wright immediately said ‘ah, he shot me,’ and drove away in his car before crashing and coming to a stop.
Meanwhile, Potter said ‘S**t, I just shot him!’ after firing her gun.
The entire incident from the traffic stop to the shooting took place within nine minutes and Wright was pronounced dead at the scene.
The criminal complaint noted that Potter holstered her handgun on the right side and her Taser on the left.
To remove the Taser – which is yellow and has a black grip – Potter would have to use her left hand, the complaint said.
Wright family attorney Ben Crump said the family appreciates the criminal case, but he again disputed that the shooting was accidental, arguing that an experienced officer knows the difference between a Taser and a handgun.
‘Kim Potter executed Daunte for what amounts to no more than a minor traffic infraction and a misdemeanor warrant,’ he said in a statement. ‘This was no accident. This was an intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force. Driving while Black continues to result in a death sentence.’
Potter could be heard shouting ‘Taser!’ several times in the moments before she fired her gun
Police body cam footage of the fatal incident showed three officers approaching Daunte Wright’s car in Brooklyn Center on Sunday after he had been pulled over for the traffic stop
Potter left her home in Minneapolis on Monday with her 54-year-old husband Jeffrey and their sons Sam and Nick after her address was posted on social media. Police guarded the property Tuesday night and fencing was erected around it.
It was not immediately clear if Potter would be returning to the home after posting her bail.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office on Monday ruled Wright’s death a homicide, noting that he ‘died of a gunshot wound of the chest.’
Experts say cases of officers mistakenly firing their gun instead of a Taser are rare, usually less than once a year nationwide, and Potter is at least the third U.S. law enforcement officer to face charges after claiming they mistakenly killed someone with a gun when they meant to use a Taser, Reuters reported.
Transit officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison after responding to a fight at a train station in Oakland, California, killing 22-year-old Oscar Grant in 2009. Mehserle testified at trial that he mistakenly pulled his .40-caliber handgun instead of his stun gun.
In Oklahoma, a white volunteer sheriff’s deputy for Tulsa County, Robert Bates, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter after accidentally firing his handgun when he meant to deploy his stun gun on Eric Harris, a Black man who was being held down by other officers in 2015.
Potter was an instructor with Brooklyn Center police, according to the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.
Brooklyn Center, a suburb just north of Minneapolis, has seen its racial demographics shift dramatically in recent years. In 2000, more than 70 percent of the city was white.
Today, a majority of residents are Black, Asian or Hispanic.
However, Elliott has acknowledged that the police force has ‘very few people of color.’
