Daunte Wright shooter Kim Potter released from prison

Kim Potter, a former Minnesota police officer who was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting Daunte Wright, has been released from prison.

Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department and former union president, shot and killed Wright — a 20-year-old Black man — in the Minneapolis suburb during an April 2021 traffic stop. The man had an expired registration tab and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. Potter tried to detain Wright when officers found out he had an outstanding warrant. She shot him after allegedly mistaking her firearm for her Taser.

Potter was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 24 months in prison but was released after serving 16 months. However, she will remain on supervised release with a number of special conditions until her sentence expires in December. She had faced a maximum sentence of up to 25 years and $50,000 in fines.

The ex-cop was released from Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee around 4 a.m. on Monday “out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Ms. Potter, DOC staff and the security of the correctional facility,” the Minnesota Department of Corrections said in a press release. The department added that Potter had received threats within the facility.

“Based on the intelligence we gathered, we released Ms. Potter at a time we felt was safest for her and for everyone at the correctional facility,” department spokesman Andy Skoogman said.

Katie Wright, Daunte Wright’s mother, said she was dreading Potter’s release but had gained “a sense of peace” knowing Potter would not be able to get another law enforcement job.

“She will never be able to hurt anybody as a police officer again,” Katie Wright told CNN. “That is the only sense of peace we get as a family.”