MPR News with Angela Davis

What comes next for police reform in Minnesota?

a person walks past the fence that lines a police department
A person walks past a heavily-fortified Brooklyn Center Police Department on Wednesday as Kimberly Potter’s trial begins. Potter, who shot and killed Daunte Wright in April during a traffic stop, faces manslaughter charges.
Tim Evans for MPR News

Opening statements were presented this week in the trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter. Potter, who is white, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man. 

Potter shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop. Potter’s defense says that she meant to use her Taser on Wright but that she grabbed her handgun instead.

Wright’s killing set off days of protests in Brooklyn Center, with demonstrators saying Wright’s killing was an example of police bias against Black people.

Also this week, Minneapolis police Chief Medaria Arradondo said he will not seek a new term and will retire from the department next month. St. Paul’s police Chief Todd Axtell has also said he plans to step down after his term expires next year.  

MPR News host Angela Davis discusses this week’s public safety news and what it means for the future of policing and police reform in Minnesota. 

Guests: 

  • Jon Collins is an MPR News senior reporter on the Race, Class and Communities desk

  • Joseph Williams is a senior news editor at U.S. News and World Report

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