Kim Potter Trial: How someone can confuse
a gun for a Taser

Split second decision under extreme pressure I cannot condemn this woman.

This was a classic case...guy gets pulled over for expired plates or air freshener violation...things get messy when it is found there is a warrant out for him on another MISDEMEANOR charge. Cops want to haul him in and he puts up resistance...and hilarity ensues. A veteran cop pulls a gun thinking it was her TASER...yeah... This guy posed no serious threat to anyone. A wood shampoo would have sufficed. The "back the blue" crowd will say he resisted arrest, and if he hadn't. And if the cops hadn't pulled the guy over for tickytack one could say the same. A man died...for what? Is Brooklyn Center better off in a meaningful way? That will show people they can't drive around with rear view mirror air fresheners and expired plates.

The guy's warrant was for a Felony Gun Charge/failure to appear... I am curious however how many times cops have pulled a taser when they meant to pull a real gun...THAT statistic is not mentioned. Her "sam brown" while having "strong side/weak side holsters", had both very near the front, and just her cuff case between them. Pretty odd looking rig, but since she is a bit on the heavy side, and having to seatbelt while driving around it may have been more comfortable.

Here is her testimony on what happened: Potter said she told Wright he had an outstanding warrant. It was for a weapons violation, she said. Wright, outside of his vehicle and about to be arrested, pulled away from police and tried to get back into his car, Potter said, which prompted a struggle between Wright and then-Sgt. Mychal Johnson. Potter, a 26-year police veteran, testified that Wright began reaching for the gear shift. "I can see Johnson's hand, and then I can see his face. ... He had a look of fear in his face," Potter's voice cracked and she began crying. "And it's nothing I've seen before. We were trying to keep him from driving away. It just, it just went chaotic. ... And then, I remember yelling, 'Taser. Taser. Taser.' And nothing happened. And then, he told me, I shot him." Before the deadly confrontation, Potter testified, police also learned Wright had a restraining order filed against him. Potter said it was her job to figure out if a female passenger in the car with Wright was the woman who was the subject of the order. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kim-potter-ex-minnesota-officer-takes-stand-trial-killing-daunte-wrigh-rcna9026 Wright, with a seriously bad history (never mind the media photo showing a benignly smiling little guy with a baby)…the guy has a weapons warrant and a restraining order out against him. That says “potentially dangerous”.

One of the cops says "Kim, he was trying to drive off with me in the car, you didn't do anything wrong"...the "New Trainee" testified against her though...but it was HIM that lost control of the suspect, letting him get loose and back into the car. New Trainee was the Biggest Cop on the scene, she is a small woman. Oh..."New Trainee" that let the suspect roll him? Black Guy. SHE is being tried for too much force...because he failed in his task when he tried using too little force.

"he puts up resistance" That's why #2.........

Many people are pulled over for "minor" things--expired license plates, making a turn from the wrong lane when it is safe, rolling through a stop sign. If you get pulled over, they are probably going to run your plates and driver's license. If there is a warrant out for you, you are going to get arrested. People who resist arrest are putting their own lives in danger because the police are immediately on alert for their own safety. She yelled, taser, according to what I read and it seems to me that a taser was what she intended to use.

In a calm, well lit place, with plenty of time to feel, and think and judge.....VERY different than in the middle of a fight, with your partner about to be dragged by a fleeing person who is acting like a felon, fighting the police, having to make a quick, grab and go sort of decision. Yes, a serious error. But the dead man was no angel and he pushed things to this dramatic breaking point, and THAT was the root cause of her error. I would not be able to vote to convict her. She has been already punished more than enough.

The culprit was a melanated monkey with a gun warrant resisting the officer. Nuff said.

They should teach a class is school on how to be arrested. Growing up in 1970’s New Orleans I was taught don’t argue it may get you killed. The second part was and still is true today you’ll get out on and ROR bond in the morning.

Really, #6...the streets should be littered with dead drunks and a host of belligerent others who "put up resistance" if that's the standard for the police justifiably killing someone. Ironically, Potter testified that they pulled Wright over so a trainee with her could have "an encounter with the public." She testified that if she had been alone, she “most likely” wouldn't have pulled him over. #3, I saw yesterday a report that said misdemeanor warrant. I'll accept your "felony". And now, in this case, knowing he was wanted, what precautions were taken as they prepared to arrest him? Experts would suggest that a rookie not be the one to make the arrest, especially of a "dangerous" person. When an arrest if forthcoming the proper procedure is to move the person away from the driver's door to the back of the vehicle. Wasn't done. And of all things, the field training officer then pulls and fires a gun thinking it is a TASER...think about that. Two veteran cops, both armed with sticks, guns and tasers, not to mention trained in combat for such close physical encounters, first ought to be able to quickly correct the rookie's tactical mistake, particularly with a dangerous subject, and subdue a resisting suspect. They didn't discuss it before approaching the car? A 26-year police veteran and a Sergeant couldn't? And one officer couldn't differentiate between her firearm and taser? Lack of experience or training? Panic? Or, negligence? We'll just have to agree to disagree.

The new trainee was also the one who chose to make the stop As I recall, when asked if she’d have done it, she allowed as how she probably wouldn’t have done so.

I'm also sommat curious...if under the current escalation of force model Taser comes 1st, why should it not be carried strong side? Train that way. Make pulling the real gun a fully conscious/considered act, a last choice.

#10...ALL of these "Names in the News" guys had plenty of training/experience in "How to get arrested, Safely". They had all been through it numerous times, then did something different during the attempted arrest that made them Famous.

I can see how an officer's "muscle memory" can lead to inadvertently making a huge mistake when quickly reaching for a weapon during a stressful event, because I made one about 33 years ago that thankfully wasn't fatal. On a full-up tac-team call-out, I was on point making a stealth (search to contact) entry into a municipal office where a violent felon, trying to avoid officers sent to arrest him had entered and secreted himself. My primary weapon that was a short 9mm rifle and my secondary weapon was a semi-automatic pistol in a heavy nylon drop-leg holster, not my normal police duty rig where the leather holster rode high on my right hip. High on my tactical belt, I carried a Cold Steel Tanto knife, mostly used to cut ropes, straps wires, and tape but capable of cutting through bone. Moving down a narrow passage, a large hand emerged from the pitch dark and grabbed the barrel of my rifle. I could see the glint of a silver revolver in his other hand, so I grabbed the gun's cylinder and his hand with my left, let go of my rifle with my right, and immediately made my fastest draw for my pistol but muscle memory kicked-in and caused me to reach a little high, so I mistakenly drew my wicked knife. He let go of the rifle barrel and his revolver and dropped to the floor, hands on the back of his neck, freaked out but uninjured.

Thanks for sharing, #15. Interesting, and frankly, not surprising that you went "back to basics" under extreme time pressure and stress. Glad it turned out so well.