Examining Daunte Wright's criminal history
At a 3:00 pm news conference, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot "began a press conference with several community activists, saying that today's verdict is an 'important moment,' but everyone must now 'fully commit' to creating a community where everyone is 'safe from police violence.'" Notice that Elliot didn't mention that it's time to create a community where everyone is safe from criminals like Daunte Wright:
When Daunte Demetrius Wright was pulled over Sunday by police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, an expired registration tag and a forbidden air freshener were the least of his problems.
The 20-year-old Wright had an open warrant for a Dec. 1, 2019, attack in which he allegedly tried to rob a female acquaintance by brandishing a handgun and threatening to shoot her, choking her twice and reaching into her bra to grab $820 as she screamed, according to court documents.
Mr. Wright faced being sent to jail for violating the conditions of his release, including a prohibition against firearms possession, which may explain why he resisted officers, jumping back into the vehicle as they tried to handcuff him, as shown on police body-camera video.
Think of that alleged crime when you watch Keith Ellison's statement: AG Ellison and Mayor Elliot ignored why Daunte Wright was pulled over. They ignored the fact that Daunte Wright had allegedly pulled a gun on a young woman, threatened her with physical bodily harm and allegedly threatened to rob her of her rent money of $820.Keith Ellison isn't a prosecutor. He's a victims rights advocate. A prosecutor wouldn't have brought these charges. A prosecutor would've went to work on changing the law so that this would've been a civil trial, not a criminal trial. This statement didn't come across as sincere:
"[Ms. Potter] has gone from being an esteemed member of the community and honored member of a noble profession, to being convicted of a serious crime. I don't wish that on anyone."First, Kim Potter is still "an esteemed member of the community and honored member of a noble profession." This conviction should be overturned on appeal because the prosecution didn't prove their case. Next, while I accept the verdict, I don't accept the law as written. John Hinderaker explains it better than I can in this post:
The first degree manslaughter count requires that Potter caused another’s death "in committing or attempting to commit a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor offense with such force and violence that death of or great bodily harm to any person was reasonably foreseeable…” But Potter was not committing or attempting to commit a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, she was executing a lawful arrest of a criminal. There was a similar issue in the Derek Chauvin case.This conviction should be filed in the category of 'proven in the court of public opinion and political pressure.' Let's not forget Rep. Maxine Waters' troublemaking in this investigation: This wasn't a fair trial. It was, in my opinion, political activism in a courtroom. This should've never gotten to a criminal court.Further, she did not act with "such force or violence" that death or great bodily harm was foreseeable. On the contrary, what was foreseeable to her when she tried to pull her taser was minor injury at worst.
The second degree manslaughter charge requires that death be caused "by the person’s culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another." There was no evidence that Potter "consciously" took the chance of "causing death" to Daunte Wright. Consciously, she was trying to use her taser, which would not have killed or seriously injured Wright.
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