Ex-officer charged over killing of black motorist
A white former police officer who shot dead a black motorist in Minnesota has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors say.
Kim Potter was arrested and later released on $100,000 (£72,000) bail.
Police say Mrs Potter shot Daunte Wright accidentally, having mistakenly drawn her gun rather than her Taser.
Giving an answer to the charges, the Wright family's attorney Ben Crump said the killing was an "intentional, deliberate, and unlawful make use of force".
Both Mrs Potter and local police chief Tim Gannon have resigned. The killing has sparked clashes between police and protesters in Brooklyn Center - a suburb of Minneapolis - and late on Wednesday, several hundred demonstrators again defied a curfew to gather outside police headquarters.
As on previous nights, protesters threw bottles and other projectiles at police who responded with stun grenades and pepper spray.
Minneapolis has already been on edge amid the trial of a white ex-police officer accused of murdering African-American George Floyd.
Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said Mrs Potter was taken into custody on Wednesday morning. She was booked into Hennepin County Jail on probable cause second-degree manslaughter before bail was posted.
She is because of make her first court appearance on Thursday.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 (£14,500) fine. Prosecutors must show that Mrs Potter was "culpably negligent" and took an "unreasonable risk" in her actions, Reuters reported.
At a news conference, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott called for people to protest peacefully.
"With the news headlines of your choice to charge the former Brooklyn Center officer with manslaughter comes a prolonged amount of continued grieving, hurt and understandable anger," he said.
"Our task as a city and as a leadership is to permit for the expression of these very legitimate voices and also create a pathway forward toward healing and renewal of our stability and strength as a community."
