FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 4, 2022

MPD Kills Young Black Man; Racial Justice Network Demands Murder Charges

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Approximately thirty six hours after shooting and killing Amir Locke, a Black 22-year-old young man, Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) released body-worn camera footage depicting the moments leading up to this senseless and tragic death. The video clearly shows multiple police officers bursting into an apartment during the execution of a no-knock warrant (the mayor has previously stated that no-knock warrants were banned in the City of Minneapolis). Amir was sleeping on a couch and Mark Hanneman shot him within nine seconds of entering the apartment. He fired his weapon within two seconds of ordering Amir to, “Get on the ground!” Amir never had a chance to survive the events on Wednesday morning. We can only imagine the fear he must have felt during his last few moments.

Soon after, the Minneapolis Police Department began a diabolical coverup of Amir’s murder, including falsely labeling him as a “suspect” four times in the initial press release, and insinuating to the public that he was armed, violent, and dangerous.

The Racial Justice Network is demanding swift justice for Amir Locke and full transparency and accountability from the Minneapolis Police Department and Mayor Jacob Frey. We demand the following: 

1. That Mayor Jacob Frey immediately terminate Officer Hanneman for the senseless killing of Amir Locke;

2. That Governor Walz appoint a special prosecutor to charge Mark Hanneman for the murder of Amir Locke;

3. For Mayor Jacob Frey to immediately end the use of no knock warrants by Minneapolis Police officers.

Additionally, we have no confidence in Interim Chief Huffman’s ability to lead the Minneapolis Police Department into a much-needed culture shift. We are calling for her resignation.

As a community, we are mourning alongside the family of Amir Locke and we grieve his death and the growing list of so many others at the hands of the Minneapolis Police and surrounding departments.

At a press conference earlier today Nekima Levy Armstrong, founder of the Racial Justice Network said:

“Tears from a mother’s perspective thinking about what happened. I saw the pictures of Amir. He looked like a boy. My son is seventeen-years-old. He has slept on his friends’ couches during sleepovers. We cannot stand here and whitewash this and pretend that it’s okay…We’re tired of being killed. We’re tired of the coverups. We’re tired of the excuses.”

“Mayor Jacob Frey continues to pay lip service by saying that he cares about transparency and accountability, while continuing to allow misinformation to be shared by his police department. We are fed up with his unwillingness to answer questions from reporters and our community. These are the times in which we need strong leaders who act with integrity. Mayor Frey is not leading right now and that is unacceptable at this time in our history as a city,” said Pete Gamades, member of the Racial Justice Network.

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