Judge in Potter case swayed by ‘white woman tears

MINNEAPOLIS: The judge who sentenced white former Officer Kim Potter on Friday to two years in prison for killing Black motorist Daunte Wright cited the difficult job that police face — and Potter’s remorse — as justification for giving her a light sentence.

Hennepin County District Judge Regina Chu choked up as she described the difficulty deciding on a sentence for Potter, who said she meant to use her Taser but mistakenly fired her handgun into Wright’s chest as he tried to drive away from a traffic stop in April.

Wright’s family and attorneys angrily condemned Chu, who is Asian American, for going well below prosecutors’ recommendations. They pointed out that a Black former officer convicted of shooting a white woman in 2017 in a different Minnesota case got no such mercy despite his expressions of remorse.

Katie Wright, who is white, told reporters that Potter “murdered my son,” and that, with this sentence, “the justice system murdered him all over again.” She accused Chu of being taken in by a performance she alleged was coached, and wondered why her own tears didn’t get such a sympathetic response.

“This is the problem with our justice system today,” Wright said. “White women tears trump — trump — justice. And I thought my white woman tears would be good enough because they’re true and genuine.”  (AP)