Kim Potter, the police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, is police union president

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Rebecca Kavanagh
@DrRJKavanagh
BREAKING: Kim Potter, the police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, is president of the Brooklyn Center Police Union.

BCA identifies officer in Daunte Wright shooting
The BCA identified the long-time veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department as Officer Kim Potter ...
kstp.com
6:49 PM · Apr 12, 2021

Potter is on standard administrative leave.

On Monday, the police chief said he believed that the shooting was accidental and that the officer thought she fired her taser instead of her handgun.

The city released body camera footage of the shooting at a press conference but did not name the officer.

The shooting has led to widespread unrest and calls for the officer's immediate termination.

Potter has worked for the department for nearly 25 years and is president of the Brooklyn Center Police Officer's Association. In that role, she has represented other officers involved in deadly shootings.

According to an investigation by the Hennepin County Attorney's office, Potter was one of the first officers to arrive after police shot and killed Kobe Dimock-Heisler in 2019.

Investigative records show Potter advised the officers during the early stages of the investigation and was present when one officer gave his statement. Those officers were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.

*snip*

[Blues Heron]

1. She knew exactly what to say for immunity

[BlueLucy]

2. She yelled taser taser taser.. to cover her ass.

[lame54]

13. I found that odd...

Taser taser taser to make sure the other cops were out of the way but then pulled the trigger before they were

[USALiberal]

15. Lol, really? After 20 something years she decided to use that scam? Nt

[Arazi]

21. Jfc she has actual history advising murderous cops on how to get off

Ffs, your ongoing defense of this person is whack

[USALiberal]

22. Nope, just not a conspiracy person. Nt

[Arazi]

24. So cops shooting black folks over nothing is a "conspiracy"

Okey dokey then

[USALiberal]

25. No, I'm talking about this incident not others! Nt

[Arazi]

26. Me too. Can't see this incident in isolation tho

Especially in MN.

Especially 10 miles from the Chauvin murder and trial.

And most especially in an area rife with police racial profiling, abuse, and slaughter

[BlueLucy]

52. I have seen cops say, "stop resisting" when no one is resisting just to manhandle them

and have audio that defends them. I've seen that many times with different cops.. so I figure it's widely done.

[radius777]

57. Exactly, she probably had it all planned out in her head,

being an expert in how the law as it applies to these situations works.

She and her husband (it appears from social media posts) are big 'blue line' types. They likely are angry about the Chauvin trial, and in IMO were itching to 'kill a n----r'.

There's no way a veteran cop would mistake a taser (which is made of some plastic type material) to a gun which is heavier and made of metal.

Wright was a black guy who (like Floyd) would not meekly submit to white authority - and thus had to pay.

[Mysterian]

3. Sounds about right

Police union: "Police can do no wrong."

[FoxNewsSucks]

4. "advised the officers",

yeah, advised them on how to get away with murder is more like it.

Watching the video of her shouting "taser taser taser taser!" reminded me of all the recordings of cops screaming "stop resisting stop resisting" when there was no resistance at all. They're just playing to the cameras and/or microphones.

[exboyfil]

5. This is why camera footage of all interactions involving restraint

should be loaded onto a server. I doubt the prosecution will spend anytime trying to turn over stones, but I would like to find if there was a prior incident of her shouting taser while holding her sidearm. That would demonstrate duplicitousness at a minimum.

[FSogol]

9. "advised the officers" equals "covered up the illegal actions of other officers"

Now she need someone to cover up her lame-ass "policing".

[BlueLucy]

53. This is exactly right

I've seen cops do that many times. I use to protest in Portland.

[stillcool]

6. what was she high or something?

that long wearing a uniform. Makes no sense.

[Mary in S. Carolina]

7. Can we get a more recent picture of her

I am sick of having the media pulling the very best pictures of white people (this picture of her is when she was much younger, I think it was taken over a decade ago). On the other hand they pull the most horrible pictures of black people.

[Nevilledog]

8. Here

[csziggy]

10. This doesn't look like the same woman but is listed as her Linkedin photo.

Officer Kim Potter in her LinkedIn photo.

https://heavy.com/news/kim-potter/

[frogmarch]

11. In her resignation letter

she said she'd enjoyed every minute of being a police officer.

Every minute.

[ecstatic]

14. Wow! nt

[Demovictory9]

18. yikes.

[luckone]

34. Did she express remorse or mention her victim by name in the letter ? The answer is no

[gldstwmn]

54. Including the one where she put a bullet into

Wright. I hope that line comes back to haunt her.

[cyndensco]

12. An anchor on CBS This Morning reported

that she was training a rookie cop when she tased - er, shot dead - Daunte Wright.

I hope the rookie was not taking notes.

[ecstatic]

19. Unbelievable! nt

[The Magistrate]

16. The Worst Of The Worst, Ma'am, Are Police Union Honchos

Here is a look at the thug heads to police union in Chicago....

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-chicago-police-board-catanzara-new-charges-20210127-pz2nku2tpzaldguxnoian4zbmy-story.html

[The Magistrate]

39. And Worth Each One Of Those Two Pennies, Sir

Unions certainly should protect their members from dangerous conditions of work.

Police unions spend their greatest efforts shielding their members from consequences of criminal acts. Providing a lawyer to an officer charged is certainly within bounds. Arranging by contract rules for investigation of citizen complaints against police which make it easy for officers to tailor stories that 'justify' brutal actions, and coordinate those stories, and insisting only police themselves should have charge of disciplining violent and brutal police --- these are a different kettle of fish indeed.

[Backseat Driver]

17. Guess she's resigned - and should never be a cop again...

Peace officers need to be "present" in the moment--each moment, and held to a higher standard of consciousness OJT where oops! isn't an acceptable defense. Yes, at that moment, one can be distracted both by fear and learned hatefulness.

Sooo...this one was educated, well-trained, and "not stupid" enough to say the wrong things...kinda worrisome it could come down to "distracted copping" or "distracted dressing" (in proper uniform by standard positioning of accessories), much like texting or other tasks while driving. Either task is wearing or controlling something that can easily kill for lack of conscious control. Would this person not tested the charge of a taser or failed to load her service revolver each day upon dressing in the uniform of her occupation??? Oops?

Tasers need to be of instantly recognizable bright color and worn at a location, perhaps cross-body, from the easier faster loaded and holstered favored handgun, though there would still be questions of judgment of which to use; of course, bodycams also recording each encounter!

[Nevilledog]

20. They are a different color and worn cross-body

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
rhiannon
@rraxt
Body cam footage of Kim Potter's taser that they claim they meant to grab instead of their gun before murdering Daunte Wright.

You would think as someone elected president of their department and been in the force since 1995 would know the difference. (1/3)
Image

[Arazi]

23. Her Glock weighs 34 oz. Her taser weighs 8 oz and is a completely different color

And have been worn on on opposite sides of Kim Potter's belt/body for 26 years.

Yet we're supposed to believe this highly experienced cop got confused in a "stressful moment" (a misdemeanor arrest no less - not even a violent felon - soooo stressful)

[luckone]

31. Picture in reply to tweet if you click on it you see her with the taser+ the color and position

Link to tweet

?s=20

I read her husband is a retired police firearms instructor

[underpants]

28. How has she been on the force for 25 years?

I would have never guessed she was close to that age.

[Nevilledog]

56. They're showing the "girl next door rookie" photo.

See post 8

[underpants]

58. Wow. Talk about manipulating the story.

I’ve only seen the younger picture of her.

[Mary in S. Carolina]

59. Yep - Sickening

[Johnny2X2X]

30. Disarm the police!

Cops around the world do their jobs without guns. Why not here? Why does every cop have to have a gun? Why not just a few with guns and the rest armed with tasers and other less lethal weapons. And then there's a shotgun you can unlock and use from your car if you really need it.

[dlk]

35. Why would Potter need a taser for a traffic stop?

Overreaction by police too often has tragic consequences.

[James48]

37. Oh please STOP bashing Unions!

You all are just as bad as the right.

Unions serve an important purpose, and hold a legal responsibility to the people they represent. Don’t bash her for doing her legal Union responsibility.

[The Magistrate]

38. Police Unions, Sir, Amount To Criminal Conspiracies

Perhaps not in theory, but certainly in practice. Their chief field of endeavor is sheltering their members from the consequences of criminal acts they commit.

[Jilly_in_VA]

45. The FOP

is nothing but an organized gang of bullies, usually headed up by the biggest or loudest of the bullies. (Kind of off the subject but maybe not, in a litter of kittens or puppies, the leader is usually the biggest male or the loudest female.....think on that for a minute!)

[OnDoutside]

50. Well said.

[uponit7771]

41. DU can walk and chew gum a the same time and understand some unions aren't working for....

... the good of the communities.

[uponit7771]

42. Its getting worse for her, we'll see there're two sides of story hers doesn't look go on its face

[Roc2020]

43. So in about 2-5 seconds

she decided he would make a run, decided in her mind she would yell taser! taser! but actually meant to shoot him? and then scream oh shi* I shot him? while throwing a 26yr career away. To kill a man she don't know? While Chauvin is being tried a few miles away?

I'm as BLM supporter as it gets, but I'm not buying she purposefully killed that man.

[Jilly_in_VA]

47. And I'm not buying

that she mistakenly pulled her service revolver instead of her taser.
A. The service revolver is a Glock 9mm and is to be worn on one hip, while the taser is to be worn on the opposite hip.
B. Any damn fool who has ever touched one knows that there is a difference in heft between a Glock and a taser and can tell the difference in less than the time it takes to yell "Taser, taser, taser!"

She fcuked up, pure and simple. Either she was wearing them on the wrong sides or knew she picked up the wrong one and fired anyway.

[The Magistrate]

48. There Are Things You Don't Get To Fuck Up, Sir

Use of deadly force with warrant of the state is one of them.

It doesn't matter if the officer meant to do it or not ---the officer killed a man for no reason worth killing a mouse. Both judgement of need and execution of the act were so faulty as to amount to depraved indifference when death was the result of the gross negligence.

[wnylib]

51. I can buy it. It is believable IF she already had

strongly held negative views about POC. In her position of advising other cops facing investigations, she certainly knew what were considered valid defenses. No need to think about it at the moment of confronting Wright. She could have thought in advance about what she would do if faced with the situation of a fleeing suspect. It should have been part of her training, in fact.

It all hinges on her prior attitudes about POC, Blacks in particular. I can easily imagine a white cop joking about what to do if a suspect flees. "Shoot 'em and they don't go anywhere do they? But CYA and yell taser first."

I am NOT saying that there is any evidence of the officer making jokes like that. I am NOT saying that she had prior racist views. Those are things an investigation might want to look into. All I am saying is that it is possible to act in a way, in split seconds, that you have anticipated or thought about in advance due to a.combination of training and prior prejudices.

It does not look good for her, given her experience as a cop and advisor of other cops who have shot peiple. Also consider that the victim was not armed and did not pose any threat to the cops at the scene. As for his prior warrant, if it was for cold blooded murder, I could understand the need to stop him with a taser. But shooting? Death sentences are not up to cops to decide and execute. That's what courts are for.

[Arazi]

55. Warrant was for a misdemeanor court no-show

[wnylib]

60. Then the shooting was 100% unnecessary,

an extreme overuse of weapons. Even a taser was not necessary. All she needed to do was call in what happened. He could be picked up another time.

This is so disgusting that it is beyond words. A young man is dead because a seasoned cop pulled a gun on him over a misdemeanor.

[BobTheSubgenius]

46. I find it hard to imagine confusing the two.

For one thing, a loaded 9mm weighs more than 3 times as much. Triple is a pretty significant difference, unless you're talking about nanograms. I'm sure you couldn't feel the difference between one nanogram and 1000.

[Progressive Jones]

49. One of the first phone calls made after a police shooting is to their union. nt