Minneapolis officers launched body-worn digital camera footage of a Minneapolis police officer fatally capturing Amir Locke 36 hours after it occurred.
The graphic video depicts an officer quietly inserting a key into the lock. As soon as the door was opened, 4 Minneapolis cops run into the room, yelling, “Police, search warrant.” The officers advance previous the kitchen in direction of a settee the place Locke was sleeping underneath a fleece blanket. Disturbed by the noise, Locke seems to seize his handgun, prompting an officer, later recognized as Officer Mark Hanneman, to fireplace three photographs.
Footage of the killing was delayed as a result of Metropolis officers wished to make sure the household had the possibility to overview it. “That may be a non-negotiable for me,” stated Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
The medical expert has but to launch the post-mortem report.
The Feb. 2 morning raid, in line with officers, was a part of an ongoing murder investigation undertaken by the St. Paul Police Division. St. Paul police requested the Minneapolis police SWAT staff execute each knock and no-knock search warrants at three residences within the constructing and obtained “proof” from the residence the place Locke was staying.
“It’s apparent that Mr. Locke was startled awake by a cacophony of voices shouting indiscernibly and definitely felt his life was in peril when he reached for his lawfully owned firearm,” learn an announcement from police watchdog group Communities United Towards Police Brutality (CUAPB).
Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman stated at a press convention on Thursday night introduced with a half-hour discover to pick media that Locke was not named within the authentic search warrant.
Locke’s household and associates say he had a allow to hold, and activists at a late afternoon press convention chastised the Metropolis for releasing images of the gun recovered, however not the officer’s gun.
Locke additionally doesn’t have a felony background and had no excellent warrants in all seven Metro space counties on the time of his dying.
Officer Hanneman seems to have devoted his profession to legislation enforcement, with stints in Minneapolis, Brookings, S.D., and Hutchinson, situated 55 miles west of Minneapolis, as early as 2006. He additionally seems to be a latest graduate of Concordia College of St. Paul’s Masters in Prison Justice program, the place he wrote a thesis on college useful resource officers and was as soon as a Minneapolis college useful resource officer.
Hanneman was named as a defendant in two federal lawsuits within the early 2010s, each whereas he was a Hutchinson police officer. He was accused in a single lawsuit of distributing marijuana to Occupy Minnesota activists as a part of a coaching train (he was later dropped as a defendant). In one other lawsuit, he executed an unwarranted drug search on somebody giving a buddy a experience residence, which resulted in a judgment in opposition to him, his colleagues, and the Metropolis within the quantity of $4,500.
In line with CUAPB, Hanneman’s Minneapolis tenure resulted in 4 citizen complaints, three of which had been closed with no self-discipline.
Through the press convention on Thursday, civil rights activist and legal professional Nekima Levy Armstrong chastised Mayor Frey and Chief Huffman over their dealing with of the incident and for assigning blame to the St. Paul Police division whereas failing to handle Minneapolis residents.
“We’re bored with the cover-ups; we’re bored with the reasons. And to cover behind the St. Paul Police Division, the deadliest police pressure within the state of Minnesota is unacceptable. You all had no enterprise agreeing to hold out a warrant and now you’re claiming ‘that’s a part of their investigation,’” Levy Armstrong stated as she fought again tears and famous seeing a photograph of Amir that reminded her of her 17-year-old son.
Whereas speaking with Huffman and Frey, she threatened to step down as co-chair of Frey’s police reform workgroup, which was established shortly after he was re-elected
. The group, which is tasked to plot suggestions to vary policing in Minneapolis, not too long ago had a mayoral candidate and neighborhood organizer Sheila Nezhad depart over transparency considerations.
“I’m solely dedicated to engaged on this workgroup in case you all are dedicated to being trustworthy and clear, and never overlaying up the bullsh*t,” stated Levy Armstrong. “You guys aren’t gonna waste my godd*mn time.”
Locke’s household is being represented by attorneys Ben Crump and Jeff Storms, who additionally represented the households of George Floyd and Daunte Wright after their respective killings by native police. They plan to host a digital press convention on Friday morning.