4th night of protests after ex-cop who killed Daunte Wright charged

Just after 9 p.m., law enforcement declared an unlawful assembly and issued an order to disperse, CBS Minnesota reports. Three more orders were given, with the fourth coming just after the 10 p.m. curfew went into effect in the city.

There was a much larger police presence Wednesday than on the previous three nights.

Law enforcement used a barrage of tear gas canisters to clear the area right in front of the police headquarters and began making arrests at about 10:30 p.m.

Law enforcement has begun arresting demonstrators in Brooklyn Center, according to Minnesota Operation Safety Net. A curfew went into effect at 10 p.m.

For the fourth consecutive night, demonstrators gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice. A curfew will be in effect from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday.

Police have given multiple dispersal orders in the hour leading up to the curfew taking effect. A sizeable law enforcement presence, including National Guard troops, is present, CBS Minnesota reports.

For many in Brooklyn Center, the site where Daunte Wright died has become a place for mourning, reflection and hope. CBS Minnesota's Reg Chapman reports.

Kim Potter, who resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, will be eligible to receive her pension from her time as an officer, according to Doug Anderson, the executive director of the Minnesota Public Employees Retirement Association.

"Ms. Potter continues to qualify for her pension earned as an officer with the Brooklyn Center Police Department," Anderson told CBS Minnesota.

Potter will get a reduced monthly benefit due to early retirement. It would be funded by employee and employer contributions, plus any earnings from investments.

CBS Minnesota said Potter would be eligible for those benefits whether she resigned or was fired.

Former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter has been accused of "culpable negligence" in the shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Potter, 48, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and is currently awaiting her first court appearance.

"Kimberly Ann Potter caused the death of Daunte Demetrius Wright, by her culpable negligence, whereby Kimberly Potter created an unreasonable risk and consciously took a chance of causing death or great bodily harm to Daunte Demetrius Wright," state prosecutors wrote the complaint, filed in court on Wednesday. 

City officials previously said Potter thought she grabbed her Taser but instead pulled her pistol before firing the fatal shot. A state investigator who examined her duty belt after the shooting said the Taser was on her left side and her handgun on the right.

If convicted, Potter could face up to 10 years in prison or a fine of at least $20,000. She posted bond and was released from jail not long after her arrest, per CBS Minnesota.

Al Sharpton's National Action Network will cover the cost of Daunte Wright's funeral. "We do this because this is what we do," Sharpton said in a news conference. "Somebody needs to stand with these victims because they didn't plan to be victims."

In addition to covering the costs of Wright's funeral, the organization will work with the family's attorney, Benjamin Crump, to plan the additional details of the service. 

Wright, 20, was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop on Sunday. The former police chief said the White officer accidentally pulled her gun, instead of her Taser, and fired the fatal shot. 

The ex-officer, Kim Potter, who has since resigned, was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday. 

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot has continued to speak out against the shooting death of Daunte Wright. 

"Daunte Wright, like many other black and brown members of our community should be alive and at home with his family today," Elliot tweeted Wednesday.

Elliot has been outspoken in his support of Wright's family and protestors but has encouraged residents to abide by peaceful protesting and citywide curfew.

Brooklyn Center's curfew will go into effect at 10 p.m. Wednesday night and last until 6 a.m. Thursday morning. Elliot has not said if the curfew would be extended through Friday.

Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright, Washington County Attorney Peter Orput announced in a statement.

"We will vigorously prosecute this case and intend to prove that Officer Potter abrogated her responsibility to protect the public when she used her firearm rather than her taser," said Imran Ali, the assistant criminal division chief in the prosecutor's office. "Her action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable."

A booking photo was released of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter after she was taken into custody Wednesday.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Potter was being booked into the jail in Hennepin County, which includes Brooklyn Center. Near the jail, the murder trial for fired Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin is being held.

Potter is facing charges in nearby Washington County. Prosecutors in the Minneapolis area adopted a practice last year of referring deadly police use-of-force cases to neighboring counties.

Attorneys representing Daunte Wright's family said prosecutors are "pursuing justice for Daunte" following the announcement that charges will be filed in the 20-year-old's death.

"While we appreciate that the district attorney is pursuing justice for Daunte, no conviction can give the Wright family their loved one back," civil rights attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Jeff Storms and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement.

Wright's family plans to hold a press conference Thursday in Minneapolis.

Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter was taken into custody at approximately 11:30 a.m. at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's office in St. Paul, the agency said in a statement.

Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter will be charged with second-degree manslaughter for the death of Daunte Wright, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a statement.

More than 60 people were arrested following a third night of protesters clashing with police in Brooklyn Center over the fatal shooting of Wright.

Law enforcement began arresting people for unlawful assembly after nightfall, when tensions rose and some people attempted to knock down a fence outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department, CBS Minnesota reports.

Between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, officers arrested dozens of people, who were booked into the Hennepin County Jail. The city's curfew went into effect at 10 p.m. and was expected to be lifted at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.

"We stopped the violence before it gets super out of control," Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson told reporters overnight. "It's safer for the community, the whole city of Brooklyn Center."

Mike Elliott is among many who celebrated his election as mayor of Brooklyn Center as the beginning of a new era, marking the first time one of Minnesota's most racially diverse places would be led by a person of color.  

A little more than two years later, Elliott, a Black man who had emigrated from Liberia as a child, is finding out just how difficult it is to turn the page on the nation's racial history. The shooting of Wright has set off protests, political upheaval and painful reckoning about racism and representation in his small city. The debate echoes one that engulfed neighboring Minneapolis and many larger communities last year after the death of George Floyd. But in Brooklyn Center, it is playing out in a place where some believed they'd made progress — only to be thrust to the front lines of the fight.

"It's been very difficult for myself, for the community, to deal with the pain and the agony that comes from watching a young man be killed before our eyes," Elliott, 37, told reporters Tuesday.

Since the Sunday shooting, the mayor has become the face of this community's struggle. Elliott has promised transparency and vowed accountability for Wright's death. He's calmly fielded scores of questions from activists pressing for answers and plans. He's expressed empathy for the protesters who've clashed with police, and ventured out in the nighttime protest in protective gear to appeal for peace: "I could feel their pain. I could feel their anger. I could feel their fear," he said of this encounter.

Under pressure to swiftly fire the officer involved, Kim Potter, Elliott and the city council voted to fire the city manager, and give control of the police department to the mayor. On Tuesday, Potter and the police chief resigned. Elliot made clear the city already had been moving toward firing Potter. He said he hoped her departure would "bring some calm to the community."

But the mayor also has acknowledged systemic sources of the distrust between residents and police in his city. Of the roughly 50 sworn officers on the city's force, "very few" are people of color and none live in Brooklyn Center, he said, acknowledging he saw the latter as a clear problem.

"There is a huge importance to having a significant number of your officers living in the community where they serve," he said.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Tuesday that his office plans to make a decision on whether or not to file criminal charges against Officer Kim Potter by Wednesday, according to CBS Minnesota.