The Minnesota police officer who killed a Black man Sunday during a traffic stop and the city’s police chief have stepped down, officials announced Tuesday. Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter’s resignation, coming two days after she shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright, was effective immediately, the union representing her said in a statement.
Without explicitly referencing the shooting, Potter wrote in her resignation letter: “I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately.”
Shortly after the union announced Potter’s resignation, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott told reporters Chief Tim Gannon also submitted a letter of resignation.
The developments come after trouble broke out again during a second night of protests outside police headquarters in the Minneapolis suburb, CBS Minnesota reports.
Gannon told a news conference Monday that Potter meant to use her Taser but instead grabbed her gun. Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, was placed on administrative leave following the shooting.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating Wright’s death.
Sunday’s shooting happened in the midst of the Derek Chauvin trial for the killing of George Floyd.
A 7 p.m. curfew in Hennepin County didn’t deter hundreds of demonstrators Monday as they chanted outside headquarters. The building was fenced off. Brooklyn Center officers outside were buttressed by state troopers and Minnesota National Guard members.
After several dispersal orders were ignored, flashbangs and tear gas were deployed. Protesters countered with fireworks launched toward law enforcement.
Tear gas fired every few minutes pushed many in the crowd away from the front of the building by around 9:30 p.m.
Soon after, law enforcement began advancing on the protesters and firing rubber bullets, CBS Minnesota’s Dave Schuman reported from the scene. At about the same time, the Brooklyn Center City Council voted to ban its officers from using rubber bullets and chemical irritants for crowd control.
The crowd had thinned out a lot by 10:30 p.m., as law enforcement members widened their perimeter. Schuman tweeted that police had established a line at a gas station a few blocks away.
Authorities said in an early morning briefing that approximately 40 people were arrested, some officers sustained minor injuries and there were a few instances of looting.
