On Tuesday morning, CNN correspondent Adrienne Broaddus gave the impression that police shooting victim was pulled over and accidentally shot simply for having air freshener hanging in his car as she informed viewers of jury selection in the upcoming trial of former Minnesota cop Kim Potter.
At no point in the segment was it divulged that Wright's legal problems had started with him trying to rob a woman a gunpoint, which later led to a charge of illegal gun possession and a warrant for his arrest. Fox fully reported on his criminal record last April.
After CNN anchors Erica Hilla and Jim Sciutto set up the segment informing viewers of the jury selection getting under way, Broaddus appeared live to give more details. At one point, she suggested that she was going to inform viewers "who may be unfamiliar with this case" of the relevant details, but then she fell way short. Noting that the inconveniently timed incident coincidentally happened during the high-profile trial of former cop Derek Chauvin, Broaddus recounted:
Kim Potter attempted to pull over Daunte Wright for a traffic violation. He had an air freshener hanging from his rear-view mirror, which is illegal in Minnesota. Prior -- as he was -- as they were attempting to take him into custody, Wright entered his vehicle, and Potter yelled on that bodycam video, "Taser, taser, taser." And she mistakenly pulled -- she says she mistakenly pulled her taser -- her gun instead of her taser.
It was also not mentioned that Wright was pulled over for having an expired tag -- a common enough reason for a traffic stop -- and that, after he was stopped, the warrant for his arrest on the weapon's charge was discovered, leading the cops to attempt to take him into custody.
By the end of the segment, viewers unfamiliar with the case would have thought they were just trying to arrest him for having air freshener in his car. Although Wright's race was not mentioned in the segment, his was one of the many cases in which the media zero in almost exclusively on cases of white cops shooting black suspects while ignoring the many other cases that do not fit that racial template.
This grossly inadequate piece of journalism was sponsored in part by Liberty Mutual. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
CNN Newsroom
November 30, 2021
10:52 a.m. Eastern
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, those of you who may be unfamiliar with this case, it dates back to April. That's when all eyes were on the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. During the middle of that trial, about 11 miles away from a suburb of Minneapolis, in Brooklyn Center, Kim Potter attempted to pull over Daunte Wright for a traffic violation. He had an air freshener hanging from his rear-view mirror, which is illegal in Minnesota.
Prior -- as he was -- as they were attempting to take him into custody, Wright entered his vehicle, and Potter yelled on that bodycam video, "Taser, taser, taser." And she mistakenly pulled -- she says she mistakenly pulled her taser -- her gun instead of her taser. Yesterday, members of Daunte Wright's family and supporters spoke out. Listen in.
COURTNEY ROSS, FORMER TEACHER OF DAUNTE WRIGHT: Daunte Wright was a student of mine at Edison High School. He was a joy, and his smile would light up this room a thousand times.
BROADDUS: And that was Courtney Ross speaking. She's a former educator of daunte Wright as well as the former girlfriend of George Floyd. And, Erica and Jim, it's really crucial. A lot of folks are saying this video is going to play a critical role. And we've seen how video in cases have played a role before. Even in the case of Derek Chauvin, we saw the cell phone video, but once trial started, all angles from bodycam video was essential. Back to you.
