Minnesota AG considering criminal charges for officers involved in killing of Amir Locke

Criminal charges will be considered for the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man killed during an early morning no-knock warrant raid last week, according to attorneys involved with the case.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who will partner with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, said in a statement that their offices “will decide together, based on the law and evidence, whether criminal charges should be brought.”

“Amir Locke’s life mattered,” Ellison said in a statement on Friday. “He was only 22 years old and had his whole life ahead of him.” 

Police shot and killed Locke during an early morning raid after entering an apartment where he appeared to be asleep under a blanket on a couch. 

As police entered, they shouted “Police!” and “Get on the ground!” Police also said Locke, who was not a named suspect in the warrant, had aimed a weapon at the officers when they entered before he was killed. His family has said Locke obtained that gun legally. 

The killing has sparked outrage in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and beyond, and raised new criticisms of the use by police of no-knock warrants, a technique also used when police shot and killed Breonna Taylor in 2000.

Protestors have called for the firing or resignation of interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman and officer Mark Hanneman, whom activists say fatally shot Locke, according to NPR.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) announced last week that the use of no-knock or unannounced warrants would be restricted and only performed in the case of “an imminent threat of harm to an individual or the public and then the warrant must be approved by the Chief.”