Jury Selection Continues in Potter Trial; Motorist Drives Through Protest

Racial Reckoning: The Arc of Justice

The court now has 9 of the 12 jurors needed. Meanwhile a motorist drove through a crowd gathered in solidarity with Daunte Wright’s family.
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Feven Gerezgiher reports:

Wednesday, the Hennepin County court seated 5 additional jurors for the trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter. Potter is charged with two counts of manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright. The court now has 9 of the needed 12 jurors and two alternates. Given the speed of selection, Judge Regina Chu suggested moving the trial up from the December 8th start date.

“We’ll kinda play it by ear and you might want to check with some of your witnesses to see if they can make it earlier,” advised the judge.

According to reporters in the courtroom, six of the jurors are white, two are Asian, and one is Black.

Several potential jurors were excused Wednesday for bias, conflicts of interest, and personal health issues. One person was also excused for a language barrier.

The defense used a peremptory strike to rule out a juror who was unsure of his trust in police.

The prosecution used its last peremptory strikes against a white male who opposes defunding police and a white female with a highly unfavorable view of Black Lives Matter.

In related news, outside the courtroom Tuesday evening, a motorist drove through a crowd gathered in solidarity with Daunte Wright’s family.

According to attendees, no one was harmed. In a video, a witness says the driver turned into a gap in the crowd while shouting expletives.

“This is the problem that we face,” she said. “Like we’re out here for justice for Daunte Wright. We’re being peaceful. Nobody is doing anything wrong. We are being peaceful.”

The witness and other activists expressed concern about white supremacists harming protestors, given similar incidents in Minneapolis in recent years.