-Avier Wanjou-Brass-
Cousins!
New day, same routines, and another Black man murdered at the hands of a police officer, stemming from a “No Knock Warrant.”
The community of Minneapolis is demanding justice after a 22-year-old Black man was shot and killed when local police officers raided an apartment. Amir Locke was asleep at his cousin’s home when officers entered the house to perform a search warrant as part of a homicide investigation, according to Blavity.
Amir’s father, Andre Locke says, “He was laying on his stomach, under the cover on his stomach, with his face down. I know this kid, I’ve known this kid all his life.” Also, Locke adds that his son was a “bright light.”
Showcasing Amir’s last few moments, the bodycam footage shows officers opening the door with a key and rushing into the home while yelling, “Police! Search warrant! Get on the f**king ground!” Around 6:48 am, Amir was sleeping on the couch covered in a blanket when officers entered. As Amir stood up, officer Mark Hanneman shot the 22-year-old three times.
Police officers released the still frame from the bodycam footage, which showed Amir rising off the couch with a gun in his hand. The family of Amir said that he was licensed to carry.
“Of course, he had his gun by his side, because where else is he going to put it? He was sleeping at somebody else’s house,” said Amir’s aunt, Linda Tyler.
After the shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey ordered a temporary ban on the no-knock warrants, but under one exemption: “To execute a no-knock warrant under the moratorium, there must be an imminent threat of harm to an individual or the public and then the warrant must be approved by the Chief,” Frey said.
The sudden death of Amir draws many comparisons to the tragic murder of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was shot and killed in her Louisville home by police officers back in March of. 2020, based off of a no-knock warrant.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a statement, “Like the case of Breonna Taylor, the tragic killing of Amir Locke shows a pattern of no-knock warrants having deadly consequences for Black Americans.”
It is very upsetting that this happened to Amir and his family. History keeps repeating itself over and over again. We want to change policies in our government to prevent this from happening. Hopefully, it will happen soon because enough is enough.