Outrage continues to grow over the police shooting of a Black man last week after officers issued a no-knock warrant in Minneapolis.
22-year-old Black man Amir Locke was fatally shot after the Minneapolis Police Department carried out a no-knock warrant on an apartment complex in downtown Minneapolis. Police bodycam footage shows officers using a key to enter the apartment. Once the door unlocks, police can be heard shouting, “Police! Search warrant!” Locke can be seen bundled up in a comforter on the couch as he is jarred awake. Police footage shows Locke holding a firearm just seconds before police begin shooting. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner later confirmed that Locke died because of several gunshot wounds.
Police officer Mark Hanneman was quickly identified as the officer who fired the shots that killed Locke. Hanneman has since been put on administrative leave as the investigation unfolds.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing Locke’s family. At a press conference, Crump detailed that Locke was not named in the search warrant and that the search warrant was executed on behalf of St. Paul police as they searched for a suspect connected to a homicide.
Despite Minneapolis changing its policy on the use of “no-knock” warrants, Crump shared that he was “shocked” about the events that unfolded in Locke’s case. "If we learned anything from Breonna Taylor, it is that 'no-knock' warrants have deadly consequences for innocent, law-abiding Black citizens," Crump explained in reference to the death of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. Under similar circumstances, Taylor was fatally shot by police after they executed a “no-knock” search warrant on her Kentucky apartment during early morning hours in March 2020.
Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman has since shared that although the policy on “no-knock warrants” has changed, Minneapolis police still use them in limited instances. "Both a no-knock and a knock search warrant were obtained ... so that the SWAT team could assess the circumstances and make the best possible decision," Huffman explained in a press conference last week. The city’s mayor, Jacob Frey, has since put a moratorium on “no-knock” warrants.
Over the weekend, the Racial Justice Network along with other police accountability groups took to the streets to demand change and call for the resignation of interim Police chief Huffman. The groups descended on Huffman’s residence where they vocalized their frustration. Activist Toussaint Morrison was present at the protest and shared with PBS News, “We’re asking for her job because it seems like the only time they pay attention is when it affects their jobs or their money. But we pull up when it affects our lives.”
Locke’s parents have also called for justice over what they described as the “execution” of their son. "My son Amir was a law-abiding citizen who did not have a criminal history," Locke’s father, Andre Locke, shared at a press conference. "My son Amir was loved by many of us, by our family and many people, everyone that he came in touch with. My son Amir did what was right. He did all the things that he was supposed to do."
