The woman who was sitting in Daunte Wright’s vehicle when he was fatally shot by Kim Potter is suing the city of Minneapolis and the former officer, according to The Associated Press. The woman says she was injured when Wright’s vehicle crashed into another car after Wright was shot.
Alayna Albrecht-Payton, 21, said she not only sustained physical injuries from the incident but also post-traumatic stress disorder, per her complaint. Payton said she witnessed the moment Wright died as a result of his gunshot wound. Potter, who has since been convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter, had mistook her firearm for her Taser, reports say. Due to the vehicle crash, Payton underwent surgery for a broken jaw and still struggles with the injury, per the suit.
More on the situation from AP News:
“Albrecht-Payton was a blameless witness to a horribly traumatic event, which a lot of people heard her testify to in the felony trial. And she has suffered some significant and permanent injuries, including the broken jaw and the cuts, and just scared inside and out from this event,” her attorney Kathryn Bennett told the Star Tribune.
Jason Hiveley, from the law firm Iverson Reuvers, is the attorney representing Potter and the city.
“Because this matter is in active litigation, we are unable to say much other than we are in the process of reviewing Ms. Albrecht-Payton’s medical records and evaluating our legal defenses. We anticipate filing a Motion for Summary Judgment once depositions are complete,” Hiveley said in a statement.
Albrecht-Payton is seeking $150,000 in damages. The city of Brooklyn Center previously paid $3.2 million in a settlement with Wright’s family. As we know, Potter is serving two measly years in prison on her charges.
Sometimes we don’t think about the witnesses left traumatized by these police brutality incidents. Surely those who witnessed the murder of George Floyd and others were left shaken - even more than social media users after watching the footage.
I still haven’t watched the whole video.