Amir Locke death: Civil lawsuit filed a year after Minneapolis cops shot man, 22, in no-knock search warrant
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: A civil lawsuit has been filed in a case related to the death of Amir Locke who was shot and killed during a no-knock search warrant by Minneapolis police. The incident took place almost a year ago in 2022 when police fired at the 22-year-old armed man as he was asleep on his couch. "Our son didn't do anything wrong. It could have been anyone's son," said Andre Locke, father of Amir. "But it happened to be ours, and people don't understand how it feels until it actually happens to them," he added. Attorneys Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms filed the case in the court.
It was officer Mark Hanneman who fired Amir Locke as he took off a blanket holding a gun registered in his name, his family claimed. "If I did not use deadly force myself, I would likely be killed," Hanneman told investigators while recounting the moment after the body camera was released. Since then, the Minneapolis police department nullified the validity of the practice of no-knock search warrants. It was city mayor Jacob Frey who made the announcement in April, last year, according to ABC News.
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'The pain hasn’t gone away'
The lawsuit announcement has come just a day after several organisations held a vigil at the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda marking the anniversary of Locke’s controversial death. Amir's parents, during an interview, said “It feels the same. The pain hasn’t gone away. It’s something that we deal with daily.” Karen Wells, Amir’s mother added, “He was 22. He deserved to live out and become a man.” She continued, “They took someone out of this world that wanted to make changes. Amir was a go-getter. He wanted to do things. And it saddens us because he has to live through us now.”
Wells also talked about the importance of coming together when such disaster strikes, referring to police brutality, “We’re like a family that’s been blended because of tragedies.” Mayor Frey admitted that the video "raises about as many questions as it does answers" and said the authorities are conducting investigations "as quickly as possible and in a transparent fashion," reports MEAWW.
What did body camera revealed!
As per an incident report, Locke suffered two wounds in the chest and one in the right wrist. Locke pointed a loaded gun "in the direction of officers." The body camera shows officers shouting, "Police, search warrant!" as they enter the apartment. They can be heard saying "Hands!" and "Get on the ground!" before an officer is seen kicking a sectional sofa and Locka emerges from under a blanket, brandishing a pistol. Three deadly shots are fired before the 54-second video ends. In the release, the city also included a still from the footage showing Locke holding the gun with his trigger finger on the barrel but not in a shooting position.
