Daunte Wright’s mother, Katie, was briefly detained by an officer after stopping on the highway to record a traffic stop, reported NBC News. Following the killing of her son, Wright said it was her civic duty to make sure those who were stopped got home safe and didn’t suffer the same fate her son had.
According to reports, Wright pulled her sedan on the shoulder of a highway after noticing Brooklyn Center Police pulling over another vehicle Wednesday. Officers said the vehicle was being stopped in connection to a homicide investigation. Officers had beckoned for Wright to keep moving but she stopped her car, per NBC News.
One officer crossed the highway and approached Wright’s vehicle because one of the people being detained didn’t wanted to be video recorded, according to the police department.
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“I pulled over to the shoulder, stopped to record to make sure that those babies — it was two young kids; they had to have been in their 20s — to make sure they got home safe, because we know we have a police problem in Minnesota,” Wright said.
“All I was doing was my civic duty to pull over and make sure that those babies got home safe to their families, because I don’t want what happened to me to happen to any other families,” she said Thursday.
The officer crossed busy lanes of Highway 252 to reach Wright. She said her wrist was injured when the officer pulled her from the vehicle, took her phone from her hand and put it on the roof of her car.
The officer, who has not been identified, indicated Wright would be getting some kind of ticket in the mail. It was not clear from body camera video whether he specified what violations he had in mind.
During the confrontation, Wright reminded the officer who she was and that an officer from their department killed her son, Daunte, per NBC. Daunte Wright had been shot and killed by Officer Kim Potter who testified she mistook her Taser for the firearm. Potter had been sentenced to two years in prison for manslaughter.
Katie Wright also told the officer if she was taken to jail she would sue as there is no felony for recording police. However, NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis reported Wright could be cited for failing to comply with the officer’s order not to stop on the highway.
Tensions continue to grow between police and city residents amidst the debate on whether recording arrests and traffic stops should be allowed. Whether Wright was in the wrong or not, she would’ve been able to catch the incident on video if things took a wrong turn.