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DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER TRIAL

Kim Potter sentenced to 2 years in Daunte Wright’s death

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kim Potter, the former suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser when she fatally shot Daunte Wright, has been sentenced to two years in prison. Potter was convicted in December of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 killing of Wright, who was Black. The sentence issued Friday is below the range of about six to 8 1/2 years in prison recommended by state guidelines. But Judge Regina Chu said she found mitigating factors exist that gave her the authority to go lower. Wright’s mother voiced disappointment at the sentence, saying “the justice system murdered him all over again.”

SOLAR PLANT

Council clears way for solar array at refinery

ROSEMOUNT, Minn. (AP) — The Rosemount City Council has approved a permit allowing a massive solar panel plant at the Pine Bind refinery. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Friday the council approved the necessary permit for Flint Hills Resources to build a 314-acre tract of solar panels at the refinery that sits along U.S. Highway 52. Flint Hills owns the refinery as well as the property where the solar project would be located. The company will decide whether to move ahead with the 45-megawatt project in the coming weeks. Company officials say the solar array could provide 40% of the power to run the refinery when the sun is shining.

DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER TRIAL-JUDGE

Family: Judge in Potter case swayed by ‘white woman tears’

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The judge who sentenced white former Officer Kim Potter 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 often as she said it was difficult to decide on a sentence. Potter said she meant to use her Taser but mistakenly fired her handgun into Wright’s chest during a traffic stop. Wright’s family and attorneys angrily condemned Chu, who is Asian American, for cutting Potter a break, saying a Black former officer convicted of shooting a white woman in a different Minnesota case got no such mercy despite his own expressions of remorse.

AP-US-DAUNTE-WRIGHT-OFFICER-MUG-SHOT

Daunte Wright’s mother angered by Potter’s smiling mug shot

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A prison intake photo of Kim Potter that showed her smiling widely after she was convicted of manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s death flared up at her sentencing. Wright’s mother Katie told the court that it was one of several things that made her doubt that Potter was genuinely sorry for his death. Defense attorney Paul Engh said no disrespect was intended and Potter was simply doing as instructed by the prison staff. Potter, who is white, had said that she mixed up her gun and her Taser when she shot the young Black man last April in suburban Minneapolis. Judge Regina Chu on Friday sentenced Potter to two years, well below prosecutors’ request, saying that mitigating factors warranted it.

DAUNTE WRIGHT-TIMELINE

Key moments in the police shooting of Daunte Wright

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Suburban Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter has been sentenced to two years in prison for manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright. Potter, who served on the Brooklyn Center police force, was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter for killing Wright. She was one of the officers who pulled over the 20-year-old Black motorist in April and tried to arrest him after realizing he had an outstanding warrant. Potter says she meant to use her Taser on Wright after he pulled away from officers and got back into his vehicle, but that she mistakenly pulled her handgun instead. The judge found mitigating factors that called for a sentence below state guidelines.

OBIT-JIM HAGEDORN

Minnesota Rep. Jim Hagedorn dies at 59 after cancer battle

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a conservative Republican from southern Minnesota who followed his father’s footsteps into Congress, has died after a battle with kidney cancer. He was 59. Jennifer Carnahan said in a Facebook post Friday that Hagedorn “passed away peacefully” Thursday night. Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer in February 2019, shortly after he began his first term, and just a couple months after he married Carnahan, then state chairwoman for the Minnesota Republican Party. Gov. Tim Walz ordered flags flown at half-staff through sunset Saturday in Hagedorn’s honor. Walz is expected to call a special election to fill out Hagedorn’s term for Aug. 9,

WINTER WEATHER-UPPER MIDWEST

Blizzard conditions close portions of ND, Minnesota roadways

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Blizzard conditions have closed portions an interstate and highways in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota Friday. The North Dakota Highway Patrol has closed Interstate 29 from Fargo to the Canadian border due to blowing snow and near-zero visibility. Motorists face fines if they travel on roads that have been closed. Highway 2 from Devils Lake to Grand Forks is also closed. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for all of eastern North Dakota and parts of northwestern Minnesota. Wind gusts of up to 65 mph were expected with isolated gusts of 70 mph. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has also closed parts of at least 11 highways in northwestern Minnesota.

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL RIGHTS

Prosecutors question officer in Floyd killing about training

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s killing testified that he didn’t act on another officer’s suggestion to roll Floyd on his side after he stopped breathing, didn’t ask Officer Derek Chauvin to check for a neck pulse and didn’t try to get Chauvin off Floyd’s neck. J. Alexander Kueng is one of three former officers charged in federal court with violating Floyd’s constitutional rights when Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck as the 46-year-old Black man was handcuffed, facedown on the street. Prosecutor Manda Sertich peppered Kueng with questions about his training, including on material from an emergency medical responder course he took that said someone might not be breathing adequately even though they’re talking.