In the wrong place, at the wrong time. The Minnesota prosecutor announced on Wednesday that he was dropping charges for the police officer accused of killing Amir Locke, a young African-American shot dead during a search in Minneapolis in February, believing that there were not enough evidence that the officer broke the law. “It’s a disappointment,” responded family lawyer Jeff Storms, saying the young man would “still be alive” if the police had knocked before entering.
Amir Locke was not wanted by the police. His name was not on the warrant signed by a judge. He had a legally purchased gun. At 6:48 a.m., he was asleep on the couch of one of his cousins—whose younger brother was wanted by authorities—when a Minneapolis SWAT team opened the door without knocking, shouting “police.” The sequence lasts 9 seconds. Half a dozen officers enter, pointing their guns and flashlights at the 22-year-old African-American. A policeman kicks the couch. Amir Locke fidgets under his duvet and grabs his gun. Officer Mark Hanneman shoots three times. The young man is transported to the hospital where he dies.
In their initial report, the police had assured that Amir Locke had pointed his weapon “in the direction” of the officer. But according to bodycam footage, the weapon was aimed at the ground.
‘No knock’ warrants suspended in Minneapolis
It is “a heartbreaking situation” in which “a young man died”, but “we cannot judge someone because the public wishes it”, underlined the prosecutor, who is African-American.
These so-called “no knock” warrants have been implicated in several cases of police violence against the black community in the country, notably during the death of Breonna Taylor, in Kentucky. Minnesota had restricted their use after the major protests in the summer of 2020. The mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, had announced just after the tragedy the immediate suspension of this type of mandate in his city.
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