Former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter, who used her gun instead of her Taser resulting in the death of Daunte Wright in 2021, was released from prison early on Monday.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections released Kim Potter at around 4 a.m. as a ‘precautionary measure for her safety.’ Potter, a former officer for the Brooklyn Center Police Department, fatally shot Wright, during a traffic stop in April 2021, which sparked protests for several days during the trial of Derek Chauvin.
Potter was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and given a two-year sentence. Under Minnesota law, those sentenced to prison usually serve two-thirds of their sentence in prison and the remaining time on supervised release. In Potter’s case, she spent 16 months of her two-year sentence behind bars, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Andy Skoogman.
Potter will be under supervised release until Dec. 21 and will reside in Wisconsin during that time. In a new photo released last week by the Department of Corrections, Potter appeared much thinner. Her attorney, Earl Gray, stated on Friday that he had “no idea” why her appearance had changed.
Potter’s two-year sentence from Judge Regina Chu drew strong criticism from Daunte Wright’s family and their attorney, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump. The state attorney general’s office had sought a sentence recommended by state guidelines of just over seven years in prison.
