Minneapolis police fatally shot Amir Locke Wednesday morning as they were entering an apartment to execute a search warrant. According to activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, his family informed her Locke was not named on the warrant or a subject of the police investigation, he had a license to carry and a conceal-and-carry permit, and he was sleeping on the couch of someone else’s apartment when police entered -- startling him and causing him to try and protect himself.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota has this statement on the shooting:
“The ACLU-MN believes that body camera footage will provide necessary details about the shooting death of Amir Locke. Mayor Frey should order its immediate release. MPD can’t have it both ways – choosing to selectively share information with the public while refusing to release critical bodycam footage. A full and fair investigation requires transparency, and an independent agency should oversee that investigation.
“There are still many questions that need answers. MPD has said only that Locke had a gun in his hand, and an officer killed him within nine seconds of entering the apartment. If someone is holding a gun, that doesn’t automatically give police the right to kill that person. Did Locke point a gun at officers? Did officers do anything to deescalate like retreating or telling him to drop the weapon? Was Locke named on the warrant? If police had a no-knock warrant, did they fully identify themselves as they entered the apartment? And if they had that type of warrant, did they meet the requirements for using it? The bodycam footage should help answer some of these questions, and we call again for it to be released immediately.”