Protests continued for fourth successive night against the killing of a black youth, 20-year-old Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb, hours after former police officer Kim Potter was arrested and charged in his death.
Protesters gathered at the Brooklyn Center police station late Wednesday night about an hour before curfew. Police fired flash bombs to disperse the crowd.
More than 3,000 Minnesota National Guard members have now been activated in the Twin Cities area, said a tweet from Operation Safety Net (OSN).
Protests, some violent, have taken place each night in and around Brooklyn Center. OSN tweeted 79 people were arrested on Tuesday night.
Officer Potter, who resigned this week, was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Wright died of a gunshot wound and the death was a homicide.
Fencing and barricades were in place around Potter’s home, where two police officers and two police vehicles were seen in her driveway on Wednesday.
Potter was arrested by agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the bureau said. She was booked into the Hennepin County Jail, online records show.
She posted bail and was released from custody, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s official website. She will make her first court appearance via Zoom on Thursday at 1:30pm CT.
In Minnesota, second-degree manslaughter applies when authorities allege a person causes someone’s death by “culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another.”
Someone convicted of this charge would face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $20,000.
