Minneapolis Man Arrested After Trying to 'Intimidate' Judge in Kim Potter Trial

The judge that was the target of the harassment is presiding over the case of a Minneapolis police officer who killed a 20-year-old black man during an arrest. The officer confused her taser with a handgun and fatally shot the man.

African American Cortez Rice has been charged with a felony for "tampering with a judicial officer" after he purportedly tried to "intimidate" Judge Regina Chiu, who is handling the case of Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter. The latter is facing charges of criminal negligence after accidentally shooting 20-year-old Black man Daunte Wright after he resisted arrest.

Rice was arrested after he livestreamed a "protest" he held on 6 November, purportedly outside of Judge Regina Chiu's house, demanding that she reverse her decision to ban cameras from her courtroom for the duration of Kim Potter's trial. He later posted and deleted the video from his stream.

"We on her heels. Waiting for the gang to get up here [...] What she think. We want cameras. The people deserve to know", Cortez Rice said. He also yelled Chiu's name at the door of the house adding: "We demand transparency. We'd hate you to get kicked out of your apartment".

It is unclear if the man indeed managed to find the judge's house, but in her complaint Regina Chiu accused Rice of trying to "intimidate her and to interfere with the judicial process".

Cortez Rice denies trying to scare the judge.

"I just made a live video on it and I was just there to make sure she can hear us", he said.

The two notably met in court in October, when Regina Chiu was looking into Rice's violation of the terms of his probation from an illegal weapons possession conviction. The judge allowed the man to remain on probation instead of going to prison.

The case that Regina Chiu is now presiding over is more high-profile. Police officer Kim Potter is accused of criminal negligence after she fatally shot Daunte Wright in April 2021. The man's car was pulled over by her and her partner for a minor traffic offence, but the police officers soon realised there was a warrant for his arrest on a weapons charge.

Wright resisted the handcuffing and tried to get back into his vehicle. Potter warned him that she was going to strike him with her taser, but instead of grabbing the non-lethal weapon, she drew her handgun and pulled the trigger. Both prosecutors and the defence agreed that her actions were an accident, but the prosecution insists they constitute criminal negligence.