Kim Potter, the Minnesota police officer who killed Daunte Wright at a traffic stop because she shot him instead of using a Taser was sentenced to two years in prison.
The prosecutor’s recommendation was seven years and two months.
The judge deemed the shooting “a tragic mistake” and choked up while she was sentencing Potter.
Once again, a young Black man is dead, and justice is nonexistent.
Mr. Wright had an outstanding warrant against him and resisted arrest.
The usual refrains ring out over the land:
“He would still be alive if he hadn’t resisted arrest.”
“He had an outstanding warrant, so he must be a criminal.”
No doubt that Mr. Wright made a fatal mistake.
He shouldn’t have tried to drive away.
But we know that it takes little reason, or no reason at all, for Black people to end up dead at the hands of law enforcement.
We can die eating ice cream in our own apartment.
We can die sleeping in our own bed.
We can die while playing with a toy gun.
It is easy for People of Color to be killed “under tragic circumstances.”
Black people are used to the two-step process that causes us to mistrust American law enforcement.
First, the death of one of us “under tragic circumstances.”
Second, the lack of appropriate punishment in most cases.
Arrests are never made or aren’t made in a timely fashion.
The charges rarely fit the crime committed.
Then, when the time comes to mete out punishment,
Legitimate punishment doesn’t happen,
Or it’s watered down to the point of frustration.
Then, there are the other factors that are always present that cause even more frustration:
In this case, a police officer who smiles in her mug shot, but cries on the stand.
A judge who makes it seem like the crime was just a tragic mistake,
and not caused by negligence, or worse.
A judge who is about to cry while passing sentence.
Outside of his family, where are the tears for Daunte?
Where couldn’t the judge cry for him, and not for the cop who killed him?
The cop who will still be alive after completing her sentence,
While he’s still dead.
It’s dangerous to be Black in Minnesota.
It’s dangerous to be Black in America.
It’s dangerous to be Black.
We pay a heavy cost for our existence every day
While the cost of killing us becomes cheaper every day.