Killer female cop Kim Potter's new career outrages Daunte Wright's family

A former Minnesota female cop's new career has outraged the family of the unarmed black man she killed in 2021, who claim she is profiting off his death.

Kim Potter, 51, was convicted of first and second-degree manslaughter for accidentally shooting and killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright on April 11, 2020, when she mistook her gun for a Taser during a traffic stop.

She was released from jail after just 16 months behind bars, due to her previously clean criminal record, and told a former prosecutor who resigned in the middle of her case she wanted to do something to help other officers avoid taking a life.

Potter and the former prosecutor, Imran Ali, are now delivering presentations at law enforcement conferences in what Ali saw as a path of redemption for the former officer and an opportunity to promote healing in communities shaken by police violence.

But Katie Wright, Daunte's mother, said the plan amounts to an enraging scheme in which her son's killer would turn a profit from his death and dredge up painful memories in the process.

'I think that Kim Potter had her second chance. She got to go home with her children. That was her second chance,' the still-grieving mother said.

'I think that when we're looking at police officers, when they're making quote-unquote mistakes, they still get to live in our community. They still get to continue their lives. That's their second chance. We don't have a second chance to be able to bring our loved ones back.' 

Katie had previously vowed at Potter's sentencing never to forgive her.  

'She took our baby boy with a single gunshot through the heart and she shattered mine. She took his future,' she told a judge.

'For that, I will never be able to forgive you. I will never be able to forgive you for what you have stolen from us.'

Meanwhile, Jeff Storms, an attorney for the Wright family, claimed that the description for a presentation Potter was set to give to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis oversight agency last month, resembled more of a promotional piece for cops who feel under siege than a sorrowful recounting of what happened.

The description listed in the contract said: 'The officer, and the prosecutor who quit in protest, will deliver a dynamic presentation on the truth of what occurred, the increased violence and non-compliance directed towards law enforcement, the importance of training, and steps we can take in the future.'

Storms said that passage suggests Ali - who was initially co-counsel in the case against Potter but resigned saying 'vitriol' and 'partisan politics' made it hard to pursue justice - is engineering support for Potter and his new law firm.

'They profit from law enforcement training. And so to say this is simply about sort of a redemption arc for Ms. Potter in doing this training, it sounds really hard to believe that that's the case,' Storms said.

Ali's firm proposed a $8,000 charge for the training session, which includes speaking fees and travel costs, the contract says.

But the lawyer denies the speaking engagements are about making money.

'To say my firm is trying to benefit off an $8,000 contract is ridiculous,' he claimed.

Ali did not say how much money Potter would earn, but said the amount was far less than what she might earn telling her story through a book deal or another project.

Instead, the prosecutor says he is committed to helping law enforcement agencies implement changes that would prevent more officers from making Potter's mistake.

He also argued that backlash to Potter telling her story - which ultimately led to the Washington speaking engagement being canceled - demonstrates that redemption for those convicted of crimes does not extend to police officers.

'We can give the benefit of the doubt to people that are former Ku Klux Klan members or former skinheads that come in and educate, sometimes even our youth,' Ali said. 'But we cannot give law enforcement that chance.'

He noted that Potter would have told the Washington board: 'I killed Daunte Wright. I'm not proud of it. And neither should you be.'

Ali, who now works as a law enforcement consultant to ensure police departments implement changes that could prevent more cops from making Potter's mistake, went on to claim that the Washington board's decision to cancel their speaking engagement represents a disservice to the community.

'I think that if we continue to silence thoughtful discussion, if we continue to silence training, we're going to continue to make some mistakes,' he told the Minnesota Star-Tribune.

'This is the definition of why I decided to walk away,' he added to the Associated Press.

'You have somebody that recognizes the need for reform, recognizes the need for redemption, recognizes the need to engage. And still -

'If you're in law enforcement in this country, there is no redemption.'

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office took over the prosecution of Potter after Ali resigned, has said the former officer's public expression of remorse could help the community heal.

'The loss of a child under the circumstances in which Daunte Wright died is deeply painful and there is just really no way to help anyone understand how bad it feels,' Ellison said, according to the New York Times.  

'At the same time, it is absolutely true that we have to heal. And Kim Potter is doing something courageous and something that we need more people to do.

'If we do not, we relegate ourselves to repeat the pain and the sorrow, and we are locked in this sort of cycle forever.' 

Rachel Moran, a professor specializing in police accountability at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, also argued that Potter's voice might be able to penetrate a law enforcement culture that is skeptical of outside criticism.

'Police officers culturally do have a pattern of not wanting to hear outside perspectives and not believing other people can understand the situation,' she added. 

'So to hear from someone who is very much in their shoes, who's actually willing to admit an error, I think that has potential to be heard more by officers than an outsider.'

In fact, Ali and Potter have become a fixture at Minnesota Sheriff's Association events.

They delivered training sessions at conferences in June and September, with a future training scheduled in October. The duo have also traveled out of state in May when Potter presented at a law enforcement conference in Indiana, event agendas show.

James Stuart, executive director of the Minnesota Sheriff's Association, has also said Potter's upcoming presentation would go on, despite the blowback. His organization has a responsibility to learn from the 'national moment of upheaval' sparked by Potter's killing of Wright.

'She'll be the first to say she's not a hero and it was a horrific tragic accident,' Stuart said. 

'I understand the concerns and the criticisms, but I would also hope they could understand the value of learning from mistakes and making sure that no other families find themselves in that same situation.'