Protestors Demanding Justice After Amir Locke's Death
Twenty-two year old Amir Locke was killed last Wednesday by police officer Mark Hanneman, a member of the Minneapolis SWAT Team while they were serving a no-knock warrant. His death has sparked protests across Minneapolis.
Body camera footage released on Thursday reveals police officers used a key to enter the apartment before entering. According to police body camera footage, Locke had a gun in his hand and was pointing it towards officers when they entered his home.
After the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Minneapolis has decreased the number of no-knock warrants served. Judges in Minneapolis can now sign “entry with announcement” warrants, which is the type which was authorized in this case.
In a statement from Minneapolis interim police chief Amelia Huffman, she stated that Hanneman had to make a split-second decision to protect him and his partners. She also noted Locke was not named in the original search warrant.
According to Benjamin Crump, a lawyer representing Amir’s family, "Like the case of Breonna Taylor, the tragic killing of Amir Locke shows a pattern of no-knock warrants having deadly consequences for Black Americans," Crump said in a statement.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a moratorium on no-knock warrants in the city on Saturday. According to Mayor Frey, he and police officials will be speaking with two experts who helped write Breeonna’s Law in Louisville, Kentucky. Breeonna’s Law is the Louisville ban on no-knock warrants in Louisville after she was killed in 2020 while a no-knock warrant was being served.
Amir’s parents, Andre Locke and Karen Wells, spoke in a news conference saying their son had no criminal history and has a permit to carry a gun. They also said Amir respected police officers, with some of their family being members of law enforcement.
More than 1,000 people came together in below-freezing temperatures in Minneapolis over the weekend to protest Locke’s death. Many also called for Mayor Frey to resign, holding signs which read ‘Frey Lied, Amir Died.”
Photo: Twitter
