The white former police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter after mistaking his pistol for a
taser
and fatally shooting the young black man Daunte Wright in suburban Minneapolis in 2021 was released this Monday (early morning, for security reasons) after spending 16 months in prison , as reported by the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
The death of 20-year-old Wright shocked the country and sparked days of protests against police violence and systemic racism.
Minnesota allows inmates who serve two-thirds of their prison sentence to spend the remainder of their sentence on supervised release.
The prison sentence is fixed by law;
there is no parole board or time off for good conduct.
“Based on the information gathered, we have released Potter at a time we believe is safest for her and for everyone at the correctional facility,” the Department of Corrections reported.
She will now serve the remainder of her sentence on supervised release in the state of Wisconsin.
Kim Potter.Minnesota Department of Corrections via AP
Wright, who was a father, died on April 11, 2021 after he was pulled over by Brooklyn Center officers for having expired license plates and air freshener in the rearview mirror.
The officers discovered that he had a warrant for his arrest for a misdemeanor, and shot him after a struggle as they tried to arrest him.
In the video, Potter can be heard yelling "taser" several times before firing his pistol as Wright tried to escape.
Civil rights advocates say that laws that prohibit hanging objects from the rear view mirror are used as a pretext to pull over black motorists.
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The Minnesota Attorney General's Office requested a sentence recommended by state guidelines of just over seven years in prison.
Wright's family and lawyer Ben Crump denounced the two-year sentence as too lenient and accused the judge of giving more weight to the white officer than to the black victim.
His mother, Katie Wright, said after the sentencing: "[Potter] murdered my son," adding: "Today the judicial system has murdered him again."
Judge Regina Chu said the case was not the same as the murder of George Floyd, which resulted in a 22-year sentence.
“She is a police officer who made a tragic mistake,” she said.
Lawyers for the former agent argued that she deserved leniency because Wright was trying to escape from police and Potter had the right to defend herself.
Potter, a 26-year veteran, apologized to the Wright family and addressed her mother directly: “Katie, I understand a mother's love.
I'm sorry I broke your heart... my heart is broken and devastated for all of you."
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They hire the ex-agent who killed Breonna Taylor
Myles Cosgrove, the former Louisville, Kentucky, police officer who fatally shot Breonna Taylor, was hired as a deputy sheriff in Carroll County, northeast of the city.
Cosgrove was fired from the Metropolitan Police Department in January 2021 for violating use-of-force procedures and failing to wear a body camera during the raid on Taylor's home.
Taylor, a black woman, was murdered on March 13, 2020 by a police officer executing a narcotics search warrant.
None of the three white officers who shot at Taylor's home were indicted by a grand jury in her death.
Robert Miller, Carroll County Chief Deputy, noted this in reference to Cosgrove's hiring.
A protest was scheduled for Monday in the county in response to his hiring.
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Investigators said Cosgrove fired 16 rounds at her home after the front door was forced open and the girl's boyfriend fired at them.
Federal ballistics experts said they believe the shot that killed Taylor came from Cosgrove.
In November, the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council voted not to revoke Cosgrove's state peace officer certification.
That meant he could apply for another agent position.