The Minnesota city of Brooklyn Center has agreed to pay $3.25 million to the family of Daunte Wright, the man fatally shot in 2021 by a now-convicted police officer, family attorneys said Tuesday.
The $3.25 million settlement agreement is not yet final, and will also include changes to police policies, lawyers for Wright’s family said.
“We hope Black families, people of color, and all residents feel safer now in Brooklyn Center because of the changes the city must make to resolve our claims,” Wright’s parents, Katie and Arbuey Wright, said in a statement.
Daunte Wright, 20, who is Black, was fatally shot by then-Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter after an April 11, 2021, traffic stop.
Police pulled over Wright that day for having expired tags and an air freshener hanging from a rear-view mirror.
After officers tried to arrest Wright on an outstanding misdemeanor weapons warrant, he got back in the car and there was a brief struggle. Potter yelled “Taser!” but fired her handgun, killing Wright.
In December, Potter, now 50, was found guilty by a jury of first-degree manslaughter and a judge in February sentenced her to two years in prison.
The settlement with Wright’s family will not be finalized until an agreement is reached on changes to police policies and training, the family’s lawyers said.
The lawyers said they expect those changes to include those related to traffic stops, as well as training on implicit bias, de-escalation and weapons confusion.
The Brooklyn Center government did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
Brooklyn Center, a city of around 33,000, is a northern suburb of Minneapolis.
Tom Winter contributed.