Down pat

I see they arrested the cop who killed Daunte Wright in the Minneapolis suburbs. They've charged her with second degree manslaughter.

Wow, that was quick, by cop killing standards.

Given the charge of second degree manslaughter, it sounds like they're accepting at face value the officer's assertion that she thought she was firing a Taser, not her gun. Given her long experience as a police officer, and her status as a trainer of junior officers, that explanation "strains credulity," as the lawyers say.

It's all a little too neat and tidy. 

Why not take more than 72 hours and conduct a more thorough investigation into the cop, Kimberly Potter, to verify what her state of mind might have been when she put a bullet into the young man's chest? She was the president of the police union. Did that create some animus on her part? Did she belong to any racist groups? Were there incidents in her past involving Black residents?

When she trained recruits, what did she tell them about the holstering and handling of Tasers and guns? Did she take drugs? Was she on steroids? A drinker?

She shot him on Sunday. By Wednesday they have the answers, and by golly, second degree manslaughter it is.

Usually when the police murder someone, they slow-walk the inquiry and wait to see if the heat gets turned off. For example, we're nearly six months after the police execution of Kevin Peterson Jr. in Clark County, Washington, and they're still "investigating." 

When they resolve it all in three days, to me it's highly suspect.

I'm glad Potter is no longer a police officer. And it's good that she is probably going to jail for a while. But I'm not optimistic that the true story of why the killing happened will ever be told.