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The former Minnesota police officer who fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright on Sunday has been arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, an unusual step that probably won’t spell the end of unrest in the Minneapolis area.
- Wright’s family members said they had hoped Kim Potter, who resigned on Tuesday, would face more serious charges, rejecting the police department’s assertion that Potter had fired her handgun by mistake. How could a 26-year veteran of policing—who was training other officers when they pulled Wright’s car over—mistake her gun for a Taser, a weapon with a different grip, weight, and appearance, worn on the other side of her body? It’s apples and oranges, if oranges were a lethal weapon and apples were...well, also pretty bad.
- Who knows if the body-cam footage of Potter yelling “Taser, Taser” tells the whole story of her intent, but police officers do occasionally mix up their stun guns and real guns —they’re just rarely charged for it. Six years ago, a Tulsa, OK, officer was convicted of manslaughter over a similar shooting and sent to prison. But out of 15 “weapon confusion” cases over the past 20 years, only five officers were indicted, and only three (including the only two cases where people were killed) were found guilty.
- So how does this kind of horrific fuck-up happen? It’s at least partly a training issue. Most police departments conduct a single day of Taser training, plus a few hours in refresher courses on the job, compared to much more frequent and repetitive firearms training. That disparity primes officers to instinctively reach for their gun in a stressful situation. Then there’s the systemic stuff: Potter seems to have been both uniquely bad at her job, having violated protocol by using any weapon at all, and just the latest example in an established pattern of police pulling over more Black people and escalating those interactions.
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Meanwhile, just a few miles from where Daunte Wright was killed, the jury in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin has begun hearing from the bullshit squad witnesses for the defense.
- Earlier this week, Judge Peter Cahill denied the defense’s request to re-question jurors and sequester them in the wake of Sunday’s police shooting. The prosecution rested its case on Monday, and the jury has since heard from Dr. David Fowler, a paid witness who’s currently being sued for covering up the (extremely similar) police killing of Anton Black in 2018. Fowler testified that he thought George Floyd had died as a result of his drug use, heart conditions, and—Fowler’s just spitballing here—the exhaust that Floyd could’ve maybe inhaled from the nearby squad car? Definitely wasn’t the police officer kneeling on his neck, though.
- Witness testimony for the defense is expected to last through the end of the week, before the trial moves into closing arguments and jury deliberation. Between the approaching end of the Chauvin trial and fresh grief over Daunte Wright’s death, the ongoing protests aren’t likely to peter out. Police arrested dozens of protesters outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Tuesday night, in scenes dramatic enough for Fox News to abruptly bump comedy institution Gutfeld! off the air.
If convicted of manslaughter, Kim Potter could face up to 10 years in prison. That’s a greater punishment than most police officers in her shoes ever face, but without superseding charges, it’ll still be a blow to those who don’t accept this eyebrow-raising police narrative at face value. Whatever her individual consequences, the appalling facts of Wright’s death should reinforce a clear need for sweeping reforms.
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We’re teaming up with Stand Up America on Thursday, 4/15 for a conversation about how you can help pass the For the People Act, end the filibuster, and save our democracy! No matter where you live, you have a role to play. Join Crooked's own Jon Favreau, Shaniqua McClendon, and the folks at Stand Up America on Thursday for a discussion of how we can pass the For the People Act to save our democracy -- and where you fit in. RSVP today →
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The Capitol Police had advance warning of an attack in which “Congress itself is the target,” but leaders still failed to prepare, according to a new report by the agency’s inspector general. Three days before January 6, a Capitol Police intelligence assessment warned that that the planned gathering of white supremacists and militia members “may lead to a significantly dangerous situation for law enforcement and the general public alike.” That intelligence did not inform the agency’s plan for the protest two days later, which said that there were “no specific known threats.” At the same time, supervisors instructed the Capitol Police’s Civil Disturbance Unit not to use their most aggressive crowd-control tools. Some officers were equipped with shields that had been improperly stored and shattered on impact, and other shields were inaccessible because they were locked on a bus. The inspector general, Michael Bolton (not that one), is scheduled to testify before the House Administration Committee on Thursday.
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- A CDC advisory committee met on Wednesday to discuss the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause, but experts said they needed more time to assess the data and risks. They’ll meet again in a week or so to vote on a recommendation.
- President Biden officially announced the hard September 11 deadline for a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan: "I am now the fourth American president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth."
- Hundreds of companies and executives, including Amazon, Google, Starbucks, and Warren Buffett, have signed on to a new statement opposing “any discriminatory legislation” that makes it harder for people to vote.
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has tipped the other way, if you can believe it, urging senators to oppose the For The People Act. Sens, on the grounds that it would push “certain voices...out of the political process altogether.” Meanwhile, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have introduced legislation to end MLB’s antitrust exemption in retribution for the league expressing a pro-democracy view.
- A Maryland state trooper shot and killed 16-year-old Peyton Ham on Tuesday afternoon. Police claimed he had a knife and a realistic-looking toy gun, but there’s no video footage of the incident.
- The Justice Department won’t pursue charges against the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during the January 6 insurrection.
- Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) have teamed up to draft bipartisan minimum wage legislation, which is expected to call for a new minimum wage of…$11. A bold new initiative by the senator from Arizona, where the minimum wage is $12.
- The vegetation across the Santa Cruz Mountains is incredibly dry for this time of year, setting up a rough wildfire season. It’s no wonder: 76 percent of the western U.S. is in a drought, thanks to a combination of a very hot summer, a weak-ass rainy season, and larger climate trends.
- Tucker Carlson has used to the J&J pause as an opportunity to go full anti-vaxxer, which is at least a break from the nightly Mein Kampf read-a-loud?
- Bernie Madoff has died in prison at 82. Here's how this tasteful Bernie Madoff joke is gonna work: You send us a Bernie Madoff joke, then get two friends to send you a Bernie Madoff joke. Soon, we will all be rich with Bernie Madoff jokes.
- The big stuck boat, having come unstuck, is now in boat jail. A boat that was born to be stuck.
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President Biden has yet to sign a directive that would raise the annual cap on refugees, and baffled progressives have started looking meaningfully at their watches. In February, Biden announced that the U.S. would accept up to 125,000 refugees, up from the Trump administration’s historically low limit of 15,000. Nearly two months later, he hasn’t made it official, and it’s not clear why: Maybe the State Department is overwhelmed with other priorities, or there could be a political concern about Republicans dishonestly conflating refugees and asylum-seekers at the border. But in the meantime, the Biden administration is on pace to accept the fewest refugees this year of any modern president, according to a new report from the International Rescue Committee. Reversing those Trump-era restrictions as soon as possible seems like a priority worth bumping up the list.
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The House oversight committee has approved the DC statehood bill, sending it to a full House vote next week.
Nearly 80 percent of Americans over age 65 have received at least once vaccine dose.
Denver will return 14 bison to tribal lands as a first gesture of reparations.
More than 300 businesses will call on the Biden administration to nearly double the U.S.’s emission reduction targets.
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