The district attorney, whose office is suing the Minnesota police officer who shot and murdered Daunte Wright, said he was willing to “do whatever I can to get a conviction.”
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput made the comments in an interview with the Daily Mail after protesters marched near his home in Stillwater, Minnesota on Saturday and demanded that Officer Kim Potter be charged with murder for murdering 20-year-old Wright during a traffic stop.
‘I would just ask: have faith in me as a prosecutor. I’m not giving anything away, ”Orput said in the interview, which was videotaped by the news broadcast.
‘I’m not trying to say, she’s a cop, I’m going to give her a break. I say I will present the evidence as I have in the 350 jury trials that I have done in my career and I will ask the jury to do the right thing, ”he added.
“And I think it’s right to convict her of second degree manslaughter,” Orput said.
Potter was arrested and charged with 2nd degree manslaughter for shooting Wright on April 11 in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb.
Potter shouted, “Taser! Taser! Taser!” Before shooting him once in the hull with live round ammunition. Police have said the veteran cop wanted to fire her Taser and accidentally pulled her firearm.
In the interview, Orput said he was confident the charges are acceptable for the shooting.
Everyone has the right to a fair trial. Adolf Hitler is entitled to a fair trial. Everybody is. And I welcome it. I don’t see that as a challenge, ”he said.
“Because I believe the woman I’m persecuting committed second-degree manslaughter. If I thought she had committed more, I would press charges, ”Orput added.
But I can only make the charges supported by the evidence. And if that doesn’t reassure the audience, I’m sorry it doesn’t. “