In an emotional press conference on Thursday, the family of Daunte Wright spoke publicly to the media, shortly before the officer who fired the fatal shot that killed Wright was scheduled to appear in court.
Joined by attorneys Ben Crump and Jeff Storms, Wright’s mother, father, sister and several aunts and uncles took to the podium at a local church to remember him.
"My brother was the most delightful person you could have met,” said Wright’s 14-year-old sister, Destiny. “His smile, his jokes. And she took that from us, and I'm very disappointed."
Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, is due in court Thursday, a day after she was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter. Potter was the officer who fired the fatal shot that killed Wright during a traffic stop on Sunday; police officials said she grabbed her firearm when she meant to grab a Taser.
"It's very hard for this family to accept that this was an accident when you have a veteran of the force of 26 years," Crump said during Thursday’s press conference.
Crump said Thursday he found out about the charges against Potter while he was meeting with the mothers of other Black men who had been slain in high-profile cases in recent years: Michael Brown, Stephon Clark, Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin.
While none of the suspects involved in those killing was convicted, Crump says the quick charges against Potter mean that the “consciousness” of America has been raised.
"We're making progress in America. Are we to the point where we can say it's equality? We're a long way from that," Crump said.
Storms also called for more progress to be made in seeking justice for those killed by police.
"We shouldn't be patting ourselves on the back for baby steps toward equality," Storms said.
Family members also lamented that they will never see their son again.
"There's never going to be justice for us,” said Katie Wright, Daunte’s mother.
"He was good man. He was a good young man in the making,” said Aubrey Wright, Daunte’s father. “The way he was killed, he did not deserve that...these young Black men being killed, can you blame my son, or anyone else from being scared?"
