“All I have is the memories … and pictures,” Locke’s mother Karen Wells said last week. “I should not have to bury a 22-year-old child.”
Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton is scheduled to deliver the eulogy at Locke’s funeral service Thursday at Minneapolis’ Shiloh Temple International Ministries.
“The no-knock warrant is what caused Amir’s death,” Locke’s father, Andre Locke, told CNN earlier this month.
This week, a division of Minneapolis’ Civil Rights Department announced it is leading a “special review” of the police department’s no-knock warrant policy.
The Office of Police Conduct Review will “focus on identifying and recommending specific changes and improvements to departmental policy and procedures,” the city said in a news release.
“This important review will complement our engagement with external experts to provide needed clarity around the impacts of these policies for both community and officers,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
Meanwhile, the officer who shot Locke, Mark Hanneman, has been placed on routine administrative leave pending an ongoing state investigation.
What the video shows
The video of Locke’s shooting released by the city was 14 seconds long.
In it, officers are heard yelling, “Police! Search warrant!” during their morning entry into the apartment.
“Hands! Hands! Hands!” one officer yells while others yell “Get on the fu**ing ground!” as they make their way toward the back of a couch where a man is seen wrapped in blankets at 6:48 a.m., according to the footage. One officer kicks the back of the couch, appearing to wake up the man, who looks up to see the officers all around him.
He begins to try and stand up, still wrapped in blankets, and is seen holding a gun, according to the footage. And then three gunshots are heard from officers.
“We’ve seen this time and time again, watching the situation with Ahmaud Arbery, Daunte Wright, George Floyd, and our hearts go out to those families,” Andre Locke said, naming three Black men killed in controversial circumstances, including two by police officers.
Minneapolis policy under scrutiny
Days after Locke’s shooting, Frey imposed an immediate moratorium on the request and execution of no-knock warrants. But his announcement highlighted such warrants can still be implemented if there is “an imminent threat of harm to an individual or the public and then the warrant must be approved by the Chief.”
Examples of those circumstances include hostage situations and extreme domestic violence situations in which an officer may have to protect someone from the threat of severe bodily harm, he said.
But Locke’s family says the moratorium doesn’t go far enough.
“We have to challenge them not to put a Band-Aid over no-knock warrants,” Locke family attorney Jeff Storms told CNN. “They need to take this step and completely ban no-knock warrants. It’s not safe for either side of the door.”
CNN’s Omar Jimenez, Ray Sanchez, Brad Parks, Peter Nickeas, Steve Almasy, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Claudia Dominguez, Raja Razek and Travis Caldwell contributed to this report.
Source : CNN
