Locke, 22, who was Black and had hoped to build a career as a hip-hop artist, was sleeping on a couch in his cousin's downtown apartment when authorities entered without knocking Feb. 2, 2022.
Minnesota prosecutors have declined to file charges against a Minneapolis police SWAT team officer who fatally shot Amir Locke.The parents of Amir Locke, who was shot to death by a Minneapolis police officer when a SWAT team executed a no-knock search warrant one year ago, sued the city and the officer Friday, alleging he was "gunned down in cold blood" in violation of his constitutional rights.
Prosecutors declined last April to charge any of the officers involved, saying the video showed that Locke pointed a gun at Officer Mark Hanneman, justifying his use of deadly force. "Any reasonable officer would have understood that Amir needed an opportunity to realize who and what was surrounding him, and then provide Amir with an opportunity to disarm himself. Hanneman failed to give Amir any such opportunity even though Amir never pointed the handgun at Hanneman or put his finger on the trigger," the complaint continued.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and then-Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman said when they declined charges that Locke might not have been shot if not for the no-knock warrant. But they said there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hanneman violated state law on when police can use deadly force.
The complaint alleges that the use of the no-knock warrant that led to Locke's death was "consistent with Minneapolis's custom, pattern and practice of racial discrimination in policing." And it alleges that police officials should have known from previous legal actions and citizen complaints involving Hanneman that he didn't understand department policies or constitutional rights.
"I was convinced that the individual was going to fire their handgun and that I would suffer great bodily harm or death," Hanneman wrote in his statement to investigators. "I felt in this moment that if I did not use deadly force myself, I would likely be killed."
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