Court rules Amir Locke civil lawsuit can proceed against Minneapolis, officer who killed him
MINNEAPOLIS — The family of Amir Locke, the 22-year-old man fatally shot by police during a no-knock raid inside a downtown Minneapolis apartment building in 2022, says their civil lawsuit against the city will proceed.
On Monday, the United States District Court denied the City of Minneapolis' motion to dismiss the wrongful death suit filed last year by Locke's parents, Karen Wells and Andre Locke. The suit accuses the city and officer Mark Hanneman of violating Locke's civil rights.
The court also ruled that Hanneman wasn't entitled to qualified immunity.
The court's ruling emphasized "the plausibility of the plaintiffs' claims that Officer Hanneman's use of deadly force violated Amir Locke's Fourth Amendment rights and that the City of Minneapolis maintained unconstitutional policies that contributed to Locke's death."
The court added that footage of the deadly raid didn't contradict the allegations made by Locke's family in the lawsuit, and the videos "plausibly" show Locke "did not point the firearm at officers or use the weapon in a menacing way and that Amir was attempting to comply with officers' commands."
The lawsuit also accuses the Minneapolis Police Department of "discriminatory, race-based policing" — including excessive force and no-knock warrants — that disproportionately target people of color, citing data from a Minnesota Department of Human Rights report.
Locke's shooting death
Amir Locke was killed on the morning of Feb. 2, 2022, by Hanneman, during a SWAT team-led search warrant execution involving Locke's cousin inside Bolero Flats apartments.
Police searched three apartment units connected to Mekhi Speed and his family. Locke, who was not listed on the warrant, was asleep on a couch in Speed's brother's unit.
Body camera footage shows officers unlock the apartment's door and enter with guns drawn before yelling, "police" and "search warrant."
Locke is seen sitting up while wrapped in a blanket, holding a handgun that his family says was legally purchased. Hanneman shoots Locke three times. The entire encounter lasts only about 10 seconds.
The searches were linked to Speed's involvement in the marijuana-sale-related shooting death of Otis Elder days earlier in St. Paul. Speed, who wasn't at Bolero Flats that morning, was charged with second-degree murder soon after Locke's death. He was convicted that July and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
No charges filed against Hanneman
In April 2022, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced their offices would not bring any criminal charges against Hanneman, citing "insufficient admissible evidence."
"Specifically, the State would be unable to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt any of the elements of Minnesota's use-of-deadly-force statute that authorizes the use of force by Officer Hanneman," their joint statement read. "Nor would the State be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a criminal charge against any other officer involved in the decision-making that led to the death of Amir Locke."
Wells called the decision "disgusting."
"Be prepared for this family, because every time you take a step, we're going to be right behind you. This is not over," Wells said.
Locke's family fights for ban of no-knock warrants
Wells and the rest of her family have been pushing for a statewide ban against no-knock warrants.
"This has got to stop," she told WCCO in 2023. "Amir will be the face of banning no-knock warrants. He will not die in vain."
While campaigning in 2021, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey made claims that he banned the practice, without always clarifying that there were exceptions. Months later, after winning a second term, Frey admitted that messaging surrounding the policy change was misleading, and the change he made to no-knock warrants only required police to announce their presence before entering a residence.
"Language became more casual, including my own, which did not reflect the necessary precision or nuance. And I own that," Frey said.
Weeks after Locke's killing, Frey ordered police to limit the use of no-knock warrants with exceptions. Officers are now required to wait 20 seconds after announcing their presence for warrant searches, and 30 seconds for searches executed between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Frey also ordered the creation of a risk classification and evaluation system for warrants.