Prosecutor on Daunte Wright's death case resigns, citing 'vitriol'

MINNEAPOLIS — A prosecutor who was co-counsel in the case against a former suburban Minneapolis police officer charged in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright resigned Monday, saying "vitriol" and "partisan politics" have made it hard to pursue justice.

The resignation of Imran Ali, the assistant criminal division chief at the Washington County Attorney's Office, came just days after it was announced that his office would no longer handle prosecution of Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center officer who fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist, on April 11. Potter resigned, and the city's police chief, who has since stepped down, had said he believed Potter meant to use her Taser instead of her handgun.

Ali and Washington County Attorney Pete Orput had charged Potter with second-degree manslaughter — then faced intense pressure from activists who protested multiple times outside Orput's home and called for murder charges to be filed. On Friday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that his office would be taking the case.

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Orput had said publicly that he believed manslaughter was the appropriate charge. Ellison said Friday that a review of the evidence and the charges against Potter is underway, but he did not indicate whether murder charges would be filed.

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https://www.startribune.com/prosecutor-on-wrights-death-case-resigns-citing-vitriol/600060721