Calls to end no-knock warrants continue after Amir Locke’s killing [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Protests have been going on in Minneapolis after the killing of 22-year-old Amir Locke on Feb. 2.
• Locke, who was not the subject of the search warrant, was fatally shot by the police during a no-knock raid.
• Protesters want to end the no-knock warrants, the police chief removed, and the officer who shot Locke fired.

Thousands of protesters continue their march through the city demanding justice for Amir Locke. The 22-year-old Black man was fatally shot by a SWAT team during a no-knock raid on Feb. 2.

On Sunday night, a large crowd of protesters stopped outside what is believed to be the home of Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman.

“We need to end police brutality, no-knock warrants. Stop the lying,” demonstrator Butchy Austin told CBS News.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has issued a moratorium on the no-knock warrant which many is blaming for Locke’s death.

According to Frey’s office, such warrants have been limited since last November as part of reforms related to the death of George Floyd. However, Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that at least a dozen have been issued since January.

A police bodycam video of the early-morning raid was released. It shows a Minneapolis SWAT team using a key to enter Locke’s apartment. Several officers with guns are heard shouting in the disturbing video.

Locke was asleep on the couch under a blanket when police entered. They kicked the couch, and as the startled Locke got up, a gun can be seen in his hand. Officer Mark Hanneman shot him three times, killing him instantly.

The warrant happens in about nine seconds. 

Locke was not the person the police were looking for. The young man was licensed to carry the weapon and had no criminal record.

According to Locke’s family, the police startled him while he was sleeping, causing him to grab his gun in self-defense.

“These no-knock warrants have deadly consequences for innocent Black people,” said civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who is representing the Locke family.

“You could knock on the door and announce, ‘Hey, the police, we have a search warrant,’ so people wouldn’t — in the middle of the night, while they’re in slumber — hear somebody coming in their house and feel like they’re being burglarized,” Crump said.

No charges have been filed in Locke’s death and Hanneman is on administrative leave.

The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis expressed sympathy for Locke’s family in a statement, saying “no officer goes into a dangerous setting like this wanting to use a weapon,” adding that the “decision was not taken lightly.”

Source: CBS News