Before Daunte Wright shooting, ex-cop Kim Potter once picked on an innocent Black man
HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA: The trial for Kimberly Ann Potter, the former police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, is slated to begin soon after the jury selection on November 30. Kim Potter, 48, is a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department. In April 2021, she was arrested for shooting the 20-year-old Black man at the Brooklyn Center traffic stop, near the place where George Floyd died. On April 13, Potter had turned in her badge and resigned along with Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon.
A prospective juror has now revealed a shocking past incident involving Potter, where the latter apparently picked on an innocent Black man. The woman reportedly told judge Regina Chu that Potter once interrogated a close friend for having a black boyfriend. The juror has now sought to be excused from the Daunte Wright murder trial given her prior negative encounter with Kimberly Potter.
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The potential juror happened to be a young woman who grew emotional while narrating her past untoward experience with Potter. Apparently, the woman's friend was traveling in a car once where the driver ignored a stop sign, and later hit another vehicle. The driver also continued driving without stopping even after the crash.
Potter happened the officer assigned to the case and she later turned up at the juror's friend's apartment to inquire about the incident. "So while they are at the apartment, Detective Potter was there and speaking to my friend. And instead of interrogating her about the hit-and-run, she was interrogating her about her boyfriend, who was black," the woman revealed in front of Judge Chu.
Adding that the boyfriend was not in the car at the time of the alleged incident, the juror emphasized, "He was not part of the situation. He was at his work." Furthermore, Potter interrogated her for her choice of a partner, insinuating, "Why would you be with a guy like that? He is a bad influence for you."
Judge Chu sought more clarity on the situation, directly asking, "‘And she related to you that Officer Potter told her she shouldn’t be with her boyfriend because he was a bad influence, or because he was black?"
"Because he was black and because he was a bad influence. And that he would be a bad influence to her. I was not there but this is what she told me. I felt very bothered by it. I know her boyfriend, so to hear that it was just very bothersome," the prospective juror responded. She also revealed that her friend from the incident was mixed race "but looks white".
The woman was later excused from being an impartial juror for Kim Potter. Overall, twelve jurors have been picked in three days for the upcoming Kim Potter trial at the Hennepin Government Center, with two more slots to be fulfilled.