A Minnesota man was arrested and charged with harassing the judge presiding over the trial of Kim Potter after he livestreamed himself entering a building he believed to be her home, police said.
The man, Cortez Rice, 32, was part of a group of protesters who gathered outside a home they believed Judge Regina Chu lived in on Nov. 6, demanding that cameras and audio devices be allowed in the courtroom for the trial, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County.
Potter, a former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in the fatally shooting of Daunte Wright, a Black motorist, when she confused her handgun for her Taser during a traffic stop in April. Opening statements are set for Wednesday.
Chu initially barred cameras from the courtroom, but she later changed her stance on Nov. 9, allowing the proceedings to be televised, citing Covid concerns.
The protest on Nov. 6 decried her initial order. Cortez is alleged to have entered the apartment building and gone up to the 12th floor to a unit he believed belonged to Chu, according to the criminal complaint.
“The Defendant live-streamed on YouTube while doing so,” authorities wrote in the document.
The video appeared to show him standing in an interior hallway.
"We on her heels," he said, according to the complaint. "... We want cameras. The people deserve to know."
Outside an apartment door, he said, “I think this is her crib right here.”
Cortez later walked down to the lobby and protesters asked whether they were at the correct location, according to the complaint. “That’s her window on the 12th floor," he said, according to the complaint.
The complaint said he was heard yelling: "We demand transparency. We’d hate you to get kicked out of your apartment."
Authorities who interviewed Chu said “she believed she was the target of the Defendant and the other protesters,” the complaint said, adding, “She further stated that it was her belief the intention was to intimidate her and to interfere with the judicial process.”
Rice was arrested in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, on Nov. 29 after he was pulled over for speeding, NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis reported. He remains in the Waukesha County Jail, according to jail records.
Rice was charged in a warrant issued Nov. 24 with felony harassment with aggravated violations, tampering with a juror and retaliating against a judicial officer.
He waived extradition and will be returned to Hennepin County to face the charge, KARE reported.
A lawyer for Rice could not be immediately located for comment.