Cops Raid an Innocent Man, Execute Him While He Sleeps on the Sofa, and Walk Away Unpunished

Minneapolis announced in November 2020 that it would be limiting the use of no-knock warrants by imposing severe limitations on their usage.

No-knock warrants are only authorised under those standards in high-risk situations, such as a hostage scenario. "With the exception of exceptional situations, such as a hostage scenario, MPD officers will be obliged to declare their presence and intent prior to entering," the agency wrote in a news statement.

Police did declare themselves on the next occasion, but only after breaking into a man's flat – without knocking. Amir Locke was inside the flat — and he was not the guy sought by police.

The raid demonstrated to America that police had no intention of putting an end to this lethal behaviour. And now, the policemen involved have been cleared of charges, demonstrating to America that cops may murder innocent individuals during these raids without facing repercussions. Prosecutors said this week that they will not pursue charges against the Minneapolis police officers engaged in the raid, notably the officer who killed Locke as he napped on the couch.

"After a careful evaluation of all available evidence... there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed with criminal charges in this matter," the county attorney and state attorney general said in a joint statement.

As seen by the footage, cops entered Locke's flat without knocking and only announced a "police search warrant" once inside. This is the quintessential no-knock raid.

Locke was covered in a blanket and asleep on the sofa when they burst into his house. Officers cry "get on the ground" and "show me your hands" as one of the policemen kicks the sofa.

Locke starts to shift about, clearly scared, as armed attackers awaken him in the middle of the night. He eventually takes his legally owned and licenced pistol to protect himself. He would never get the opportunity to defend himself, however, since as soon as he took up the pistol, a cop started firing shots into him, killing Locke as he slept on the sofa.

"Under these circumstances, an objectively reasonable officer in Officer (Mark) Hanneman's position would have perceived an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm that was reasonably likely to occur, and an objectively reasonable officer would not hesitate to use deadly force," Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman stated in a joint statement.

According to MPR at the time, the search warrant was connected to a murder investigation in St. Paul. Locke was not mentioned in the search warrant or in the St. Paul case.

According to CNN, Locke's family attorney, Jeff Storms, described the day as "disappointing."

"They just believe that the great wrong that occurred to Amir would save other people's lives," Storms said of the police' choice not to press charges. "They are not going to be deterred in the slightest by the absence of criminal charges."

Prior to the release of the body camera video, the first police report said that Locke pointed his revolver at officers. This, however, is not evident in the film. Additionally, we discovered that Locke's finger was not on the trigger and that he was practising gun safety by keeping it straight and away from the trigger.

Despite his assertion that no-knock warrants would be used sparingly, Huffman informed the media that cops had secured a no-knock warrant for the residence.

A guy sleeping on the couch is hardly the same as being held hostage and barely qualifies as a "high risk condition." Locke would still be alive if cops had merely knocked at a regular hour. As he was innocent, he would very certainly have just answered the door and spoken with the police. Rather than that, they broke in and murdered him.

Ben Crump, who also represented Floyd's estate, said at a news conference that Locke had no criminal past and lawfully carried a pistol to defend himself while working as a food delivery driver.

Karen Wells, Locke's mother, is distraught and told reporters that she wanted her son cremated because she didn't want him to stay in a place where officers killed him and got away with it.

"Did you believe I was going to bury my son in the same area where he was murdered?" No, my kid will accompany me everywhere I go. I am not a Twin Cities resident. I departed from the Twin Cities. "When I left the Twin Cities, I brought my kid with me," Karen Wells said.

Link to the video:https://rumble.com/embed/vrf5g5/?pub=4