Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter fatally shot Daunte Wright at a traffic stop on April 11, 2021. And last week, she was sentenced to just two years for taking the life of a 20-year-old. Interestingly enough, Mohamed Noor, a Black, Somali-American, was also a former Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk on July 15, 2017 and was sentenced to 12 years. Wright was a 20-year-old Black male. But Ruszczyk didn’t quite look like Wright and the typical victims of the police – she was a White blonde.
Potter was a veteran cop who was training a new officer when she pulled over Wright for a routine traffic stop. When attempting to handcuff Wright, he lurched back, and Potter immediately reached for her weapon. Potter says she was attempting to grab her taser and that she accidentally grabbed her gun instead. But police officers are trained to keep tasers and guns on opposite sides of their waists, which her rookie partner was abiding by. The 26-year veteran might’ve forgotten that.
Nevertheless, she mistakenly grabs her gun, and she yells out “Taser! Taser! Taser!” Then she mistakenly pulls the trigger and kills Wright. Potter’s immediate fear of Wright, split-second decision when grabbing her weapon, and regret over the murder sound very similar to the case of Mohamed Noor, a former police officer who served at the Minneapolis Police Department since 2015.
It was on July 15, 2017 when Noor responded to a 911 call made by Ruszczyk. She called in to report a possible sexual assault in an alley behind her house. Noor was dispatched to the scene with his partner Matthew Harrity. In court, Harrity testified to being startled at the scene by a noise, as Ruszczyk approached the vehicle. Then Noor heard Harrity say “oh Jesus.” It was then that Noor spotted Ruszczyk, and as she began to raise her hand, in fear, Noor made a split-second decision and shot Ruszczyk – similar to the split-second decision made by Potter.
When Potter shot Wright, she immediately felt it and yelled “I just shot him,” while sobbing, according to her body camera. Similarly Noor says “The moment I walked around and saw Ms. Ruszczyk dying on the ground, I felt horror. I knew in that instant that I was wrong.”
Just as there is no justification for the killing of Wright, there is no justification for the killing of Ruszczyk. But if we are to presume the mistake committed by both officers in the wrongful killing of two innocent people, why the drastic difference in the sentencing? On Feb 18, 2022, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Potter was sentenced to only two years. And, she actually won’t have to serve all 24 months. After serving 16 months, she’ll be on supervised release.
Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, asked Judge Regina M. Chu for a maximum sentence, saying that Potter was more concerned about her job security and future versus the well being of Wright who had just been shot. “You took his future,” Katie said. And after Judge Chu handed down the sentence, Katie was devastated. “Kim Potter murdered my son, and he died April 11,” she said. “And today the justice system murdered him all over again.”
On the contrary, Judge Chu contrasted this case with the George Floyd case. “This is not a cop found guilty of murder for using his knee to pin down a person for nine and a half minutes as he gasped for air,” Judge Chu says. “This is a cop who made a tragic mistake.”
But while Judge Chu is comparing Potter with Derek Chauvin (the officer who killed George Floyd), the family of Noor may be comparing it with their loved one, who is currently still sitting in a jail cell. If they were both accidental killings, the sentencing disparity doesn’t reflect that. For Noor’s mistake, he was sentenced to 12 and a half years.
Noor was the first Minnesota officer convicted of murder for an on-duty shooting, despite the fact that officer Jeronimo Yanez shot and killed Philando Castile just a year prior in 2016. Castile was pulled over when driving with his girlfriend. Officer Yanes told Castille not to reach for his gun. Castille responded “I’m not pulling it out.” After Yanes repeatedly said “Don’t pull it out.” Castille’s girlfriend said “he’s not.” Yanes then fired seven times. Castille died about 20 minutes later at the Hennepin County Medical Center. And as far as the fate of officer Yanes, he was acquitted of all charges within five days.
Fortunately, Noor’s attorneys didn’t stop fighting. Attorney Peter Wold said that “there is no dispute that Noor reacted based on fear in the split seconds he reacted and shot Ms. Ruszyczyk that night.” Another defense attorney, Thomas Plunkett said that “We are disappointed with the Court’s decision to send Mohammed to prison for 150 months. We have concerns with the process that needs to be addressed. We are not done fighting for Mohamed Noor.”
Because of Noor’s relentless attorneys and a number of letters that were sent to the court in support of Noor, in Oct 2021, the state Supreme Court overturned Noor’s 3rd degree murder conviction. He was then sentenced to just under five years and could be released by this summer. Despite the sentence reduction by the Supreme Court, the initial sentence of 12 and a half years raises the question of fair sentencing, as Potter’s two-year sentence may shed some light on this hypocrisy.
This disparity makes it difficult to presume that these officers were judged solely based on the crime committed – and not their color, too often a subconscious determining factor in how a judgment is made. And it also makes it difficult to presume that the victims are pitied based solely on the crime committed against them – and not their color.
