- Judge Regina Chu defended the two-year sentence she gave to former Officer Kim Potter for the manslaughter of Daunte Wright.
- Chu said Potter was a "cop who made a tragic mistake," not one who committed murder, citing the case of George Floyd.
- Prosecutors argued for Potter to serve a seven-year sentence.
A Minnesota judge defended the two-year prison sentence she assigned to Kim Potter, who was found guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright's death by invoking the death of George Floyd.
On Friday, Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu sentenced Potter to two years in prison — 16 months to serve in state prison and eight months to serve on probation. During sentencing, she illustrated why her sentence was less than the seven-year sentence prosecutors recommended.
"This is not a cop found guilty of murder for using his knee to pin down a person for nine-and-a-half minutes as he gasped for air," Chu said, calling Potter a "cop who made a tragic mistake."
Potter fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop in April 2021 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. She said she intended to grab her Taser instead of her gun.
Chu drew a comparison to the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for several minutes as Floyd cried out that he couldn't breathe in May 2020. Chauvin was sentenced to a 22-and-a-half-year prison term in June 2021 after he was found guilty months earlier of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter in Floyd's death.
"The fact she never intended to draw her firearm makes this case less serious than other cases," Chu said. "The scene was chaotic, tense, and rapidly evolving. Officer Potter was required to make a split-second judgment. That constitutes a mitigating circumstance."
Potter faced a total of up to 25 years in prison after being convicted on first and second-degree manslaughter charges. Prior to the sentencing, prosecutors told Chu that they believed a seven-year sentence was appropriate.
Following the sentencing, Wright's mother, Katie Bryant, said the justice system "murdered him all over again."
"This is the problem with our justice system today," Katie Bryant said at a press conference. "White women tears trump justice."
Wright's father told reporters that it felt like the justice system "was so tied up" in Potter's feelings that it "forgot" that his son was killed.
"I walked out of this courthouse feeling like people are laughing at us because this lady got a slap on the wrist," Arbuey Wright said. "And we're still, every night, sitting around crying, waiting for my son to come home."
Chu defended the sentence on Friday, saying she knows "there will be those who disagree with the sentence."
"That I granted a significant downward departure does not in any way diminish Daunte Wright's life," Chu said. "And to those who disagree and feel a longer prison sentence is appropriate, as difficult as it may be, please try to empathize with Mrs. Potter's situation."
Chu became emotional and teared up throughout the sentencing.
"Officer Potter made a mistake that ended tragically," Chu said. "She never intended to hurt anyone. Her conduct cries out for a sentence significantly below the guidelines."