MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar released a statement Friday calling the death of Amir Locke “murder” and also criticized Minneapolis city leadership for misleading the public about what happened in the police shooting that left a Black man dead.
“Amir Locke had barely opened his eyes when he was executed by a Minneapolis police officer,” wrote the congresswoman, who represents Minneapolis. “He was 22 years old. And now, because of the violent, unchecked, and unreformed behavior of our city’s police, his life was taken.”
She admonished Mayor Jacob Frey and Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman for only offering “empty words” to the public and alleged that they tried to paint Locke as a criminal.
Locke, 22, was fatally shot Wednesday morning by Minneapolis police officer Mark Hanneman. The shooting happened as a SWAT team was executing a no-knock warrant in connection to a St. Paul murder investigation. Locke, who is licensed to carry, was holding a gun. He has no criminal history in Minnesota; he was not named in the warrant.
Body-camera video of the shooting showed Locke on a couch, wrapped in a blanket as officers burst through the door just before 7 a.m. Hanneman shot Locke less than 10 seconds after police opened the door to the apartment. Huffman, the interim chief, said that Hanneman had to make a “split-second decision” in regards to his life and the lives of his fellow officers.
In her statement, Omar criticized the mayor, saying that Frey ran for re-election on “having ended no-knock warrants” in the city.
“Conveniently, the group that poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into reelecting the mayor and defeating the public safety charter amendment has scrubbed all mention of this lie from their webpage,” she said, referencing the ballot imitative last November that would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety.
Minutes after Omar made her statement, Frey issued a moratorium on the use of no-knock warrants in the city. He also asked national experts to help the police department reshape its policy.
In 2020, following the police killing of Breonna Taylor, Frey and then-Chief Medaria Arradondo instituted a policy restricting the the use of unannounced warrants in Minneapolis, requiring officers to announce their presence prior to entry in all but exigent circumstances. In Locke’s killing, the body-camera video shows that officers announced their presence as they were entering the apartment, after they’d unlocked and opened the door.
Earlier Friday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said that his office will help to review the shooting. Omar, who replaced Ellison in representing Minnesota’s 5th District, called the former congressman “one of the few voices this city can trust in the wake of this kind of violence.”
“It is shameful that we have to rely on him, once again, to investigate this crime due to a complete lack of trust in local officials and institutions,” she said.
The congresswoman called on the Department of Justice to expedite its investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department so that it can be reformed, adding that she questions if city leaders have the will or ability to reform it. The federal investigation into the Minneapolis Police department has been underway since the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020.
Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney who represented Floyd’s family, is representing Locke’s family. They are calling for Hanneman, the officer who shot Locke, to be fired, arrested and charged with murder. Hanneman is currently on administrative leave, which is standard procedure following a police shooting.
In her statement, Omar questioned how many times Minneapolis city leaders would offer their thoughts and prayers to the families of people killed by police.
“How many more times will they have to before we finally repair this broken system?” she said.
*story by CBS Minnesota
