Mark Hanneman, the Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Amir Locke in February, will not face criminal charges.
Minneapolis SWAT team entered an apartment at Bolero Flats executing a no-knock search warrant on Wednesday February 2.
The Minneapolis Police Department said SWAT entered a unit on the seventh floor after entering two units on the 14th floor and “loudly“ announcing themselves before appearing. Body camera footage indicates that SWAT did not announce their appearance until after they entered the apartment.
Upon entering the apartment, body camera footage shows Locke underneath a blanket. Police shouted “police, search warrant” while approaching Locke.
One officer kicked the couch and Locke emerged from under the blanket revealing a firearm in his hand.
“Video shows Mr. Locke under the blanket holding a firearm that was initially held parallel to the ground before being dropped to about a 45-degree angle, then being raised again in the direction of Officer Hanneman,” Freeman and Ellison state.
As the footage proceeds, officers shout “hands, hands, show me your hands”, and “get on the ground, get on the f***ing ground” before Officer Hanneman shot Locke three times, as he was still wrapped in a blanket. Locke falls to the ground as the video ends.
Hennepin County Attorney, documented there is “insufficient admissible evidence” to file criminal charges in the case.
Attorney Mike Freeman and Attorney General Keith Ellison wrote that Locke’s actions constituted a “specifically articulable threat.”
“Officer Hanneman perceived that Mr. Locke’s movements and production of a firearm presented a threat of death or great bodily harm that was reasonably likely to occur and to which the officers had to respond without delay,” the attorneys wrote.
While Mark Hanneman isn’t being prosecuted, the death of Amir Locke prompted Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to initiate conversations to modify policies revolving around no-knock warrants.
