Daunte Wright’s mother accused the judge, who sentenced Officer Kim Potter on Friday to two years in prison for killing her son, of being swayed by a white Woman’s tears and giving a light sentence. The Wright family, angered, said that the justice system murdered Daunte ‘all over again’. 

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Hennepin County District Judge Regina Chu, who is Asian American, was condemned for going for a sentence well below what the prosecutor recommended. She choked up while describing he difficulty deciding on a sentence for Potter. The officer had said that she meant to use her Taser but mistakenly fired her handgun into Wright’s chest as he tried to drive away from a traffic stop in April.

The family also pointed out that a Black former officer convicted of shooting a white woman in 2017 in a different Minnesota case got no such mercy despite his expressions of remorse.

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Katie Wright, who is white, told reporters that Potter “murdered my son,” and that, with this sentence, “the justice system murdered him all over again.”

“This is the problem with our justice system today,” Wright said. “White women tears trump — trump — justice. And I thought my white woman tears would be good enough because they’re true and genuine.”

Wright also joined protestors on Friday as they chanted outside a downtown building they believed included Chu’s home.

The phrase “white woman tears” has gained currency amid the national reckoning on race, suggesting that white people weaponize their emotions against people of color to protect their privileged positions.

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Potter cried in testimony at her trial in December and sobbed again Friday as she directly addressed Wright’s family in the courtroom.

“Katie, I understand a mother’s love and I am sorry I broke your heart,” Potter said. “My heart is broken for all of you.”

With inputs from the Associated Press