Page 32 - Florida Sentinel 4-16-21

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Cop Who Shot And Killed Daunte Wright, Resigns From Police Force
Officer Accused Of Force In Stop Of Black Army Officer Fired
In a still image from footage taken by Officer Joe Gutierrez’s body camera, Second Lt. Caron Nazario is seen being pepper- sprayed during a traffic stop at a gas station on Dec. 5.
The Minnesota cop who shot and killed Daunte Wright has resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department.
Kim Potter said in a letter Tuesday that it’s “in the best in- terest of the community” for her to step down, two days after she fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old Black man.
“I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I re- sign immediately,” her resigna- tion letter says.
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon also re- signed Tuesday.
Wright’s death on Sunday has been the subject of unrest and protests in Brooklyn Cen- ter, a city that borders Min- neapolis.
On Monday, Gannon said he believes that the officer who killed Wright “had the inten- tion to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet.”
Wright had been stopped by police at around 2 p.m. local time due to expired registra- tion tags, and was shot after he allegedly attempted to flee when officers learned he had an outstanding arrest warrant, Gannon said.
Their resignations come amid a trial for Derek Chau-
OFFICER KIM POTTER
vin, a fired Minneapolis cop charged in the May 2020 death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man.
Potter, 48, was identified Monday as the officer who fa- tally shot Wright. She worked in law enforcement for 26 years after getting her police license in 1995, when she was 22.
The shooting of Wright was captured in a police body cam- era video released Monday.
Graphic police bodycam video shows a female police of- ficer apparently shouting, “Taser, taser, taser,” before fir- ing at Daunte Wright as a fellow officer tried to take him into custody following a traffic stop that uncovered an out- standing arrest warrant on Sunday,
“I’ll tase you! I’ll tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” the offi- cer is heard saying in the video. “S--t, I just shot him,” she says. Wright was pronounced dead after crashing several blocks away.
Daunte Wright, a 20-year- old Black man, died after he was shot by an officer during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, Minn., on Sunday, April 11, 2021.
The city’s mayor, Mike El- liott, voiced support for the of- ficer’s removal from the police force ahead of Potter’s resig- nation announcement.
“Let me be clear, we will get to the bottom of this,” Elliott said Monday. “We will do all that is within our power to make sure justice is done for Daunte Wright.”
Several counties in Min- nesota instituted curfews Mon- day night into Tuesday morning following Wright’s death.
Many protesters continued to demonstrate outside the Brooklyn Center Police Depart- ment building beyond that 7 p.m. curfew.
A police officer in Virginia who confronted a uniformed Black Army medic at gunpoint and doused him with pepper spray during a traffic stop, an exchange captured on video, has been fired, officials said on Sunday.
The officer, Joe Gutierrez, was terminated for his role in the Dec. 5 encounter involving Caron Nazario, a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Medical Corps, the town of Windsor, Va., said in a state- ment posted on its website.
Officials said an internal in- vestigation had determined that Gutierrez’s actions were not consistent with the depart- ment’s policies. They did not provide further details on when Mr. Gutierrez had been fired.
Body camera footage of the encounter has drawn wide- spread attention and criticism of Gutierrez, as well as an- other officer who was also in- volved in the traffic stop. Both officers were sued on April 2 in U. S. District Court in Norfolk, Va., by Lieutenant Nazario, who has accused the officers of using excessive force and vio- lating his constitutional rights. Windsor, a rural town of about 2,700 people that is about 30 miles west of Norfolk, said in the statement on Sunday that it had requested an investiga- tion into the traffic stop by the Virginia State Police.
“The town of Windsor prides itself on its small-town charm and the community- wide respect of its Police De- partment,” the town said. “Due to this, we are saddened for events like this to cast our community in a negative light. Rather than deflect criticism, we have addressed these mat- ters with our personnel ad- ministratively, we are
reaching out to community stakeholders to engage in dia- logue, and commit ourselves to additional discussions in the future.”
There was no lawyer listed for Mr. Gutierrez in court records, and efforts to reach him on Sunday night were not successful.
Earlier on Sunday, Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, a Democrat, said on social media that he had begun an outside review of the en- counter.
“The incident in Windsor is disturbing and angered me — and I am directing the Virginia State Police to conduct an in- dependent investigation,” Northam said. “Our Com- monwealth has done impor- tant work on police reform, but we must keep working to ensure that Virginians are safe during interactions with po- lice, the enforcement of laws is fair and equitable, and people are held accountable.”
Northam said that he would invite Lieutenant Nazario to meet with him for a discussion about police re- form.
A lawyer for Lieutenant Nazario, Jonathan Arthur, said in a statement on Monday that his client was “gratified by the outpouring of support” he had received.
While the termination of Gutierrez was “appropriate,” Arthur said, “we must con- sider steps to decertify officers that engage in this behavior, so that they cannot seek em- ployment with other law en- forcement agencies.” Police departments, he added, also must “consider seriously” the failure of officers “to promptly intervene to end an unjust po- lice-civilian encounter as it unfolds.”
Daunte Wright’s Dad: I Can’t Accept Killer Cop’s ‘Taser’ Explanation
Daunte Wright’s father is in no mood to listen to excuses from the Minnesota police of- ficer who shot his 20-year-old son dead.
Officer Kim Potter, a 26- year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, shot Wright during a traffic stop on Sunday, and her police chief has since claimed that Potter mistook her handgun for a non-lethal taser.
Daunte’s dad, Aubrey, told Good Morning America on Tuesday that he can’t accept any attempt to excuse his son’s killing. “I cannot accept that,” he said. “I lost my son. He’s
AUBREY AND KATIE WRIGHT
never coming back. I can’t ac- cept that. A mistake? That doesn’t sound right. This offi- cer has been on the force for 26 years. I can’t accept that.”
Daunte’s mom, Katie, added: “I would like to see jus- tice served and her held ac- countable for everything that she’s taken from us.”
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