BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — An upcoming training session with officers at the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board was canceled after they learned Kim Potter was a part of it.
Potter, a former Brooklyn Center police officer, was convicted of manslaughter after she shot and killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in 2021. She served 16 months of a two-year sentence.
Daunte’s mother, Katie, said she had no idea Potter would be a part of a training session until after it was canceled.
“I was mad and hurt at the same time. I don’t understand why she would have the audacity to feel like she has that right to even go into a community and benefit off our tragedy,” she said.
Katie said she was relieved they canceled it out of respect for her and her family.
“Whenever I hear Kim Potter’s name or hear her doing anything like this it’s like tearing a band-aid off a forever bleeding wound,” she said. “She doesn’t get to triumph off of our tragedy.”
Potter was supposed to speak alongside former Washington County Assistant Prosecutor Imran Ali.
In an email, he said “We have presented before, but minimally. Her participation is usually between 5-10 percent of any training.”
He said money isn’t her objective.
“Most of the speaking has zero compensation. If the travel is out of town, I make sure her travel costs are covered and a small stipend,” Ali said in an email.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said it's unfortunate the planned training was canceled and hopes they reconsider.
“We should all support and at least respect how victims feel. At the same time, as attorney general, we’re trying to reduce deadly force encounters between police and community,” he said. “I think it is admirable that Kim Potter would want to come forth and tell her story to help other people learn. I mean she has a cautionary tale to tell.”
Ellison believes Potter’s past could help improve policing.
“I think it could be beneficial for public safety, and it could improve policing,” he said. “She can tell them that she spent decades as a police officer, believed in what she was doing, and committed, and still despite that training and that experience committed a lethal error when she killed Daunte Wright.”
However, Katie just doesn’t see how Potter being a part of training sessions can improve policing.
“Nobody can learn from that,” she said. “I don’t think she’s learned anything. If she’d learned anything she would have written us a letter. I haven’t heard anything.”
Katie said she visits her son’s memorial three times a week to feel close to him.
“I talk to him every time I’m out here, and I feel like he hears me,” she said.
A metal sculpture details his face with different symbols crafted into the metalwork.
“This is Daunte’s face with his crown. We have a couple fists embedded into his crown,” she said. “We have the No. 23 which symbolizes his favorite number because of basketball and Michael Jordan… the infinity just means he’s just going to live on forever. His story will forever be known and told.”
A memorial sits next to the artwork that has a picture of Daunte and a copy of his death certificate.
“The death certificate was really important to me because of the fact that it shows he was, it does homicide and gunshot wound. And I want people to remember that he was killed by law enforcement,” she said.
They also planted a flowerbed by the memorial that is currently blooming with red flowers.
Katie said she is more than willing to visit police departments and explain the impact deadly force has on families.