New details have emerged about a 22-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police during the execution of a no-knock warrant, with police officials confirming the man was not named in any search warrant.
During a press conference on Thursday held by the Minneapolis police department (MPD), officials confirmed that Amir Locke, who was shot early on Wednesday morning during the search, was not named in any search warrant carried out by MPD police. Locke was shot by the Minneapolis officer Mark Hanneman, according to city officials and documents.
“My son was executed on 2-2 of 22,” said Karen Wells, Locke’s mother, during a press conference on Friday. “And now his dreams have been destroyed.”
The video of the police shooting, which was also released on Thursday, seemed to contradict early claims from police officials that officers had “loudly made themselves known before entering the apartment”, where Locke was. The video instead showed officers announcing their presence once they were already inside the apartment.
The video released by the Minneapolis police department shows officers entering the apartment unit by unlocking the door with a key, shouting “police, search warrant, get on the ground, get on the fucking ground,” as they entered the unit, reported Reuters.
An officer then kicks a couch Locke was lying on underneath a blanket, appearing to wake Locke up. Locke, who was holding a handgun, looks up to see officers surrounding him and begins to stand, with the handgun becoming visible.
Almost immediately, officers fired three shots, killing Locke, who was still twisted up in the blanket.
Locke’s parents, Andre Locke and Karen Wells, initially declined to comment on the video, with his mother telling the Star Tribune on Thursday, “We want justice for our son.”
In a press conference on Friday, Locke’s parents spoke more about their son, noting that he had no criminal record and had multiple relatives working in law enforcement.
Wells said the couple had talked to their son on how to act around police and to do “what they needed to do whenever they encountered police officers” given the danger to “unarmed Black males”.
Nekima Levy Armstrong, a community organizer and a civil rights attorney, said that Locke’s family told her that Locke was a registered gun owner with a conceal carry permit who did not live in the apartment and was not being searched for by police, reported CBS.
Armstrong also confirmed that Locke was not named in the search warrant carried out on Wednesday.
The Minneapolis mayor on Friday imposed a moratorium on no-knock warrants. Mayor Jacob Frey said the moratorium was effective immediately and would ban requests for and the execution of warrants in which police do not announce themselves.
Frey said that while the moratorium is in place, he and Minneapolis police department leadership will work with national experts to review and suggest revisions to the department’s policy.
“No matter what information comes to light, it won’t change the fact that Amir Locke’s life was cut short,” Frey said in a statement.
Hanneman was hired by the MPD in 2015 and had received three complaints that were all closed with disciplinary action, according to city records. A fourth complaint from 2018 was also recorded, according to data collected by the Communities United Against Police Brutality organization, reports CBS.
Hanneman has been placed on administrative leave, which is routine, pending an investigation.
The family is being represented by the civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has previously worked with the families of police shooting victims, including the family of George Floyd.
In a statement, Crump compared the shooting of Locke to the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, during a police raid.
“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,” said Crump.
“This is yet another example of why we need to put an end to these kinds of search warrants so that one day, Black Americans will be able to sleep safely in their beds at night.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting
