Former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter released from prison after serving time for deadly shooting of Daunte Wright

Potter was released from the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee at 4 a.m. on Monday, the department said, noting the early hour was due to safety concerns and the potential for violent protests outside the facility, CNN reported.

According to CNN, Potter was convicted of two counts of manslaughter in the killing of 20-year-old Wright, an unarmed Black man, during a 2021 traffic stop near Minneapolis. Wright was pulled over for having expired tags and for a hanging air freshener.

Potter will be on supervised release for the remaining third of her sentence, in accordance with Minnesota law, which doesn’t provide time off for good behavior, the corrections department said. Potter’s supervised release expires in December, CNN said.

Potter’s attorney, Earl Gray, told CNN the former officer with 26 years of experience has no plans to return to Minnesota and will live in Wisconsin, according to CNN.

Wright’s mother, Katie, said she was “dreading” Potter’s release and is struggling to find peace. She said she suffered a stroke that left her temporarily with blurred vision following the stress of Potter’s trial and conviction.

“Some say I should forgive to be at peace but how can I? I am so angry. She is going to be able to watch her kids have kids and be able to touch them,” Katie Wright told CNN. “I am always scared I am going to forget my son’s voice. It gave us some sense of peace knowing she would not be able to hold her sons. She has two. I can’t hold my son.”

She said Potter not being able to serve as a police officer again, due in part to her conviction, has given her “a sense of peace.”

“She will never be able to hurt anybody as a police officer again,” Katie Wright said. “That is the only sense of peace we get as a family.”