On April 11, 2021, Duante Wright, a 20-year-old Black man was shot and killed by officer Kimberly Potter. Prior to the fatal shooting, officer Potter stopped Wright and attempted to arrest him for an “outstanding arrest warrant in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota” (The New York Times). After a brief grapple with police officers, Wright was shot and then proceeded to drive off, but his car collided with another vehicle and ultimately hit a barrier. Officers proceeded to drag Wright out of his vehicle and began to administer CPR. Unfortunately, their CPR attempt was unsuccessful and Wright was soon pronounced dead. 

After the fatal shooting, police said that officer Potter intended to use a taser, but accidentally grabbed her gun instead, shooting Wright in the chest. On April 12, Tim Gannon, Brooklyn Center police chief, held a press conference and proceeded to play a short clip of the body camera that officer Potter had on at the time of the incident. Officer Potter was then placed on “standard administrative leave” as the investigation of her crime continued. Two days after the shooting, officer Potter and police chief Tim Gannon resigned from their positions. Officer Potter was later arrested on April, 14 and was charged with second-degree manslaughter. Shortly after her arrest, officer Potter was released on a $100,000 bail bond. 

The shooting of Duante Wright sparked a renewal of protests against police brutality in Brooklyn Center and Minnesota as a whole. After the shooting, protestors gathered close to the scene as they marched for justice for Duante Wright and his family. Police were present at the protest and were armed with riot equipment as they attempted to restrain the protestors who gathered. Protests began to spread to other neighboring cities across the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. 

On April 14, 2021, protestors erected a large wooden sculpture of a fist where Duante was shot and killed by officer Potter. This same sculpture was present at George Floyd Square which was later replaced by a metal version of the fist. Wright’s funeral was held on April 22, 2021, in Minneapolis. Relatives of Oscar Grant and BReonna Taylor were present at the funeral as well as the family of Emmett Till. 

There have been policy changes regarding tasers as a result of the shooting of Wright. The Police departments in Roeland Park, Kansas, and St. Ann, Missouri have made changes such as requiring officers to carry their tasers on the opposite side of their gun as well as using yellow tasers only. House Bill 1267 was passed by the Washington State Legislature which will “create a statewide office to investigate use-of-force incidents by July 2022” (NY Times), Senate Bill 5259 was also passed which will “create a statewide database of use-of-force incidents” (NY Times).