Police in Minneapolis shot and killed a 22-year-old Black man early Wednesday morning (February 2) after barging into a home to execute a no-knock warrant.
Body camera footage of the shooting shows officers opening fire on the man, Amir Locke, within 10 seconds of entering the home. The clip shows Locke was still underneath a blanket when a member of the Minneapolis SWAT team –– identified by local news outlets as Mark Hanneman –– killed him.
Amir Locke was not named on the warrant, attorneys say, while police claim Locke –– a registered gun owner –– pointed a gun at them. Members of the community cite the body camera clips that show Locke was shot within seconds of waking up.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman held a news conference Thursday (February 3) stating that the were committed to transparency after the community called for openness in the investigation.
Community members are also questioning the details surrounding Locke’s killing since the city’s leaders vowed to implement changes on its no-knock warrant policy, following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong stood up during the press conference to calling out the leaders for the “scripted” conference.
“You changed the no-knock policy, where’s the evidence of that?” Levy Armstrong asked.
“The City of Minneapolis told the public that it was limiting the use of no-knock warrants to ‘limit the likelihood of bad outcomes,'” Locke’s family’s attorney Jeff Storms told CNN.
“Less than two years later, Amir Locke and his family needlessly suffered the worst possible outcome. Our city has to do better.”
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The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
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The Association of Black Psychologists 1-301-449-3082
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America 1-240-485-1001
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