BLM protesters took to the streets outside a building said to be home to a judge who sentenced a white cop who killed a black man to just 14 months in prison.
The crowd of around 100 people protested outside what they believe to be Judge Regina Chu’s Minneapolis condo building on Friday night.
That protest began hours after Chu sentenced Kim Potter to 14 months behind bars for shooting and killing black suspect Daunte Wright in April 2021.
Potter was convicted of first-degree manslaughter after claiming she’d meant to reach for her taser, only to pull her gun on Wright and fatally-shoot him instead.
She had been expected to receive around seven years behind bars, with state laws permitting a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Protesters say that the Brooklyn Center cop, 49, who killed 20-year-old Wright after he tried to flee when she and another officer pulled him over for expired plates on April 11, got off easy – Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines recommend 86 months of jail time for first and second degree manslaughter, the charges of which Potter was found guilty.
After a 4.30pm news conference outside the Hennepin County Government Center, protesters moved to what they said was Chu’s home the Loring Park neighborhood near downtown Minneapolis. It is unclear whether they had the correct address.
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About 100 protesters gathered outside Judge Regina Chu’s home on Friday, the day after she sentenced Kim Potter to 14 months in prison, far less than the state guidelines for first and second-degree manslaughter recommend
Katie Wright (pictured center), Daunte Wright’s mother, was among protesters outside Chu’s home, belting ‘No Justice, No Peace,’ and a call-and-response chant of ‘What’s his name?’ and ‘Daunte Wright’
On Thursday, Judge Regina Chu (pictured) explained her decision to downgrade Potter’s prison sentence, saying there was no question that Potter ‘did not intend to hurt anyone’ and ‘was trying to do the right thing’ when she shot Daunte Wright dead.
Kim Potter (left), 49, a 26-year veteran of the force, claimed she accidentally shot Daunte Wright (right) when she reached for her gun instead of her Taser during a traffic stop over his expired plates in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 11
Katie Wright, the slain black man’s mother, was among protesters outside Chu’s home, belting ‘No Justice, No Peace,’ and a call-and-response chant of ‘What’s his name?’ and ‘Daunte Wright.’
‘We are very disappointed in the outcome. This isn’t okay. This is the problem with our justice system today,’ Katie Wright said after Potter was sentenced.
‘White women tears trump — trump — justice. And I thought my white woman tears would be good enough because they’re true and genuine.’
They also cried out the name of Kobe Dimock-Heisler, 21, another young man who they said Potter played a role in killing in 2019.
Heisler, who was on the autism spectrum, was shot six times by other Brooklyn Center officers during a domestic disturbance call after he lunged at police with a knife. Police were called to the scene at a Minneapolis Wendy’s restaurant after Heisler allegedly threatened his grandparents with the knife and a hammer.
Potter arrived at the scene after Heisler was shot, and advised officers conducting an investigation, according to Newsweek.
Members of the New Black Panthers are pictured at the protest on Friday
Protesters also cried out the name of Kobe Dimock-Heisler, 21, another young man who they said Potter played a role in killing in 2019.
Counter-protesters calling for Potter’s release on probation also gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Building on Friday
Protesters also cried out the name of Kobe Dimock-Heisler, 21 (pictured), another young man who they said Potter played a role in killing in 2019
According to one protester who addressed the crowd with a bullhorn, although Chu ‘said that incarceration wasn’t going to solve Kim Potter [sic] because she’s not likely to do something like this again,’ she’s ‘done it before.’
‘Daunte Wright isn’t the first person that she’s had a part in killing,’ the man said to the electrified crowd. ‘There are no good cops in a racist system, because it doesn’t matter who they are. This is what they do. They end black, brown and indigenous lives, over and over and over again. But incarceration isn’t going to do her any good.’
‘I can guarantee that she can’t do anything behind bars… but once she’s out here in these streets after serving less than two years, who knows what she’s going to do. She’s probably going to get a book deal. She probably going to be some right-wing superstar.’
Hennepin County Court Judge Chu took time at Potter’s sentencing to explain her reasoning for giving Potter a lesser sentence than the state recommends, with 16 months in prison including the 58 days she has already served during trial and a subsequent eight months on supervised release.
She said there are four reasons to send someone to prison: ‘retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation.’
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But she said Potter doesn’t need to be prevented or deterred from committing future crimes and does not require rehabilitation to become law-abiding. Only retribution to pay for the harm she caused applies, she said.
Hennepin County Court Judge Chu said there was no question that Potter ‘did not intend to hurt anyone’ and ‘was trying to do the right thing’ when she shot Daunte Wright dead.
‘This is the problem with our justice system today,’ Katie Wright, Daunte’s mother (pictured with Daunte’s father, Aubrey Wright) said after Potter was sentenced. ‘White women tears trump — trump — justice. And I thought my white woman tears would be good enough because they’re true and genuine’
Potter, pictured at Friday’s sentencing, sobbed heavily and tearfully addressed Wright’s family
Diamond Wright, Daunte’s sister, was put in handcuffs. There were confused reports that she had been fighting with Chyna Whitaker, the mother of Daunte’s two-year-old son. Some reported that she was trying to protect Whitaker from an attack from someone else
Daunte Wright’s sister Diamond was put on the ground and handcuffed after the sentencing. CBS reports she had been fighting with the mother of his toddler son
Daunte Wright’s mother Katie said outside court on Friday after the sentence was handed down: ‘We’re very disappointed in the outcome. This isn’t OK. This is the problem with our justice system. White woman tears trump justice. I thought my white woman tears would be good enough’
Damik Wright (in plaid suit, right) got into a screaming match with a man who was there to support Kim Potter. Damik called him a ‘b***h a**’ and a ‘f***ot’
‘To those that disagree and feel a longer prison sentence is appropriate, as difficult as it may be, please try to empathize with Ms. Potter’s situation,’ Chu said, her voice wavering with emotion.
She said that Potter’s actions were not driven by personal animosity toward Wright.
‘This is not a cop found guilty of murder for using his knee to pin down a person for nine minutes as he gasped for air. This is not a cop found guilty of manslaughter for intentionally drawing his firearm and shooting across his partner to kill an unarmed woman as she approached his car,’ Chu said.
‘This is a cop who made a tragic mistake. She drew her firearm thinking it was a taser, and ended up killing a young man.
‘That I granted a significant downward departure does not in any way diminish Daunte Wright’s life,’ she said. ‘His life mattered.’
After the sentence was read out, some of Potter’s supporters stayed around the courthouse as did Daunte Wright’s supporters.
It led to clashes inside with Daunte’s brother Damik squaring off against a Potter supporter. He called the man a ‘b**** a**’ and a ‘f***ot’ and challenged him to ‘go outside’.
Diamond Wright, Daunte’s sister, was put in handcuffs. There were confused reports that she had been fighting with Chyna Whitaker, the mother of Daunte’s two-year-old son. Some reported that she was trying to protect Whitaker from an attack from someone else.
Chu has been a judge since her 2002 appointment by then-Gov. Jesse Ventura and previously worked in private practice and the attorney general’s office.
Before Potter’s trial, she was the target of a protest by a Minneapolis man who entered a condominium building he thought was hers, then filmed himself making comments meant to pressure her into allowing broadcast coverage of the trial.
Potter, sobbed heavily during Friday’s sentencing, and tearfully addressed Wright’s family.
‘Katie, I understand a mother’s love and I am sorry I broke your heart,’ Potter said. ‘My heart is broken for all of you.’
She has now been transferred to Minnesota Correctional Facility – Shakopee, a five-level security prison located about 25 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis.
The facility cares for about 650 female prisoners and offers a variety of in-prison programs designed to help in rehabilitation, according to Prison Fellowship. The inmates are invited to participate in a 5K runs, further their education and grow their relationship with God.
Promotional materials show inmates studying, sewing and planting produce that is then donated to community members in need. One inmate is even trying to pursue a law degree while behind bars.
The facility is also the first prison to offer a pipeline program that allows inmates to pursue a law degree while behind bars.
As of Friday, Potter’s release date is April 24, 2023.
Potter will serve her sentence at Minnesota Correctional Facility – Shakopee, a facility that cares for about 650 female prisoners and offers a variety of in-prison programs designed to help with rehabilitation. Pictured: Shakopee inmates in a classroom
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