Media Contact–

Media Contact: Pete Gamades
Email address: pete.gamades@gmail.com
Phone: 612-310-6151
MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 6, 2022

Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman were wrong in deciding not to bring charges against Minneapolis police officer Mark Hanneman in the killing of Amir Locke

 

Minneapolis, Minnesota

We are appalled at the decision made by Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to not charge Mark Hanneman with murder for the shooting and killing of Amir Locke. On February 2, 2022, Amir Locke was shot and killed by Mark Hanneman within nine seconds of police officers executing a no-knock warrant on the apartment where he was sleeping. Amir Locke was not the subject of the warrant and was not a suspect.

“The justice system continues to demonstrate that it does not value the lives of Black men and systematically chooses to not hold police officers accountable when they traumatize, hurt, and kill Black men without justification, said Nekima Levy Armstrong, attorney and founder of the Racial Justice Network. “This is yet another heinous example that proves Minnesota does not believe that Black Lives Matter.

The circumstances that led to the killing of Amir Locke on February 2 should never have existed. The Attorney General and Hennepin County Attorney acknowledged this fact. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had previously told the community that he had banned no-knock warrants. He lied and as a result Amir Locke is dead.

Yesterday, the mayor released yet again another “ban” on no knock warrants with significant loopholes including if MPD believes that destruction of evidence may occur if they wait to enter a property. Additionally, the new policy does not describe a mechanism that will monitor the adherence to the new policy. It is understandable that we have a lack of trust in this mayor.

The Racial Justice Network demands the following:

  • Mayor Jacob Frey fire officer Mark Hanneman and all other officers involved in this “banned” no-knock warrant;

  • The city of Minneapolis conduct an after-action review regarding this incident to determine which, if any, MPD policies were violated and to make the report public;

  • Mayor Jacob Frey updates his new “no-knock” warrant policy to remove easy loopholes such as the “destruction of evidence”; and

  • Mayor Jacob Frey develop a mechanism to validate adherence to the new no-knock warrant policy and delivers swift  and appropriate discipline when officers violate the new policy.

“If Mayor Jacob Frey is unwilling to make these simple changes, he needs to resign,” said Pete Gamades, member of the Racial Justice Network. “His irresponsible lie led to the unnecessary police killing of Amir Locke and he needs to be held accountable.”

The Racial Justice Network (RJN) is a multi-racial, grassroots organization, committed to fighting for racial justice and building bridges across racial, social, and economic lines. racialjusticenetwork.com

Press Release