VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board canceled a training session after the agency learned an officer involved in a controversial shooting was scheduled to be a part of it.
Kim Potter, a former Minnesota police officer, was convicted of manslaughter after she shot and killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in 2021. She served 16 months of a two-year sentence.
Potter said she confused her service weapon for her taser.
Potter was scheduled to take part in a training event for state Liquor and Cannabis law enforcement officers next week in Vancouver, Washington.
The event was canceled after the Seattle Times contacted the board about the event.
“We were shocked to hear it,” said David Postman, board chair. “When it came to our attention, people were alarmed, people felt uncomfortable.”
Postman said the event was called off out of respect for Wright’s family.
Daunte Wright’s mother, Katie, said she had no idea Potter would be a part of a training session until after it was canceled.
“I was mad and hurt at the same time," Katie said. "I don’t understand why she would have the audacity to feel like she has that right to even go into a community and benefit off our tragedy."
Katie said she was relieved they canceled it out of respect for her and her family.
“Whenever I hear Kim Potter’s name or hear her doing anything like this it’s like tearing a band-aid off a forever bleeding wound,” Katie said. "She doesn’t get to triumph off of our tragedy.”
Potter was supposed to speak alongside former Washington County Assistant Prosecutor Imran Ali.
In an email, he said “We have presented before, but minimally. Her participation is usually between 5-10 percent of any training.”
He said money isn’t her objective.
“Most of the speaking has zero compensation," Ali said in an email. "If the travel is out of town, I make sure her travel costs are covered and a small stipend."
Postman said the board and agency director did not know Potter was going to be participating in the event.
He said agency staff has the authority to schedule speakers without approval from agency leadership, but moving forward that could change.
”You'd like to think whoever was organizing it would think this could be controversial,” Postman said.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said it's unfortunate the planned training was canceled and hopes they reconsider.
“We should all support and at least respect how victims feel," Ellison said. "At the same time, as attorney general, we’re trying to reduce deadly force encounters between police and community. I think it is admirable that Kim Potter would want to come forth and tell her story to help other people learn. I mean she has a cautionary tale to tell.”
Ellison believes Potter’s past could help improve policing.
“I think it could be beneficial for public safety, and it could improve policing,” Ellison said. “She can tell them that she spent decades as a police officer, believed in what she was doing, and committed, and still despite that training and that experience committed a lethal error when she killed Daunte Wright.”
However, Katie just doesn’t see how Potter being a part of training sessions can improve policing.
“Nobody can learn from that,” Katie said. “I don’t think she’s learned anything. If she’d learned anything she would have written us a letter. I haven’t heard anything.”
Katie said she visits her son’s memorial three times a week to feel close to him.
“I talk to him every time I’m out here, and I feel like he hears me,” Katie said.
A metal sculpture details his face with different symbols crafted into the metalwork.
“This is Daunte’s face with his crown," Katie said. "We have a couple fists embedded into his crown. We have the No. 23 which symbolizes his favorite number because of basketball and Michael Jordan… the infinity just means he’s just going to live on forever. His story will forever be known and told.”
A memorial sits next to the artwork that has a picture of Daunte and a copy of his death certificate.
“The death certificate was really important to me because of the fact that it shows he was, it does homicide and gunshot wound," Katie said. "And I want people to remember that he was killed by law enforcement."
They planted a flowerbed by the memorial that is currently blooming with red flowers.
Katie said she is more than willing to visit police departments and explain the impact deadly force has on families.