No charges are being filed against SWAT team officer Mark Hanneman, who fatally shot Black, 22-year-old Amir Locke in Minneapolis in February. The shooting was the result of a no-knock warrant. The decision was handed down by Minnesota prosecutors.
Law enforcement was at Locke’s cousin’s home investigating a homicide while Locke was sleeping on couch. Locke was not on the warrant, however, officers opened fire after police say he reached for his gun. Locke was a licensed gun owner with no criminal background. The incident was caught on police body cams.
“There is insufficient admissible evidence to file criminal charges in this case,” Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman said in joint statement. “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.”
Karen Wells, Locke’s mother, responded to the decision on Wednesday during Al Sharpton’s National Action Network national convention in New York.
“I am angry. I am mad. I am disgusted with Minneapolis, Minnesota,” Wells said. “This country is still a disappointment in 2022. We have rights, we vote, we carry legal firearms and you still think we don’t matter. Amir is more than a hashtag. We are going to continue the fight for the no-knock warrant bans in honor of his name [and] for Breonna Taylor. This can’t happen to anybody else.”