DEVELOPING

Bodycam Footage of Police Shooting Shows Amir Locke Under Blanket

The 54 seconds of body camera footage was released by the city of Minneapolis on Thursday night after calls for its release.

The Minneapolis Police Department released body camera footage on Thursday evening showing the fatal shooting of Amir Rahkare Locke after several officers entered his apartment.

The 22-year-old was not the intended subject of the investigation that the Minnesota SWAT team was conducting when it executed the search warrant Wednesday around 7 a.m., a law enforcement official told The Daily Beast.

Authorities on Thursday also released documents identifying Mark Hanneman as the officer who fatally shot Locke on Wednesday morning at the Balero Flats apartment building and the only officer who fired his weapon. He hit Locke three times, twice in the chest and once in the wrist. He has been placed on administrative leave per department policy. Minutes after entering, police said via radio that they were transporting a woman to Room 801, typically used for interviews at the police station.

In the footage, Locke can be seen wrapped in a blanket in a dark apartment with the television on. Police unlock the door and enter without knocking, shouting “Police! Face forward!” Locke stirs under the blanket, moving from the couch cushions to the floor. A pistol can be seen in his hand. Nine seconds elapse before police begin shooting.

Locke’s family reviewed the footage before it was released. Andre and Karen Locke, Amir’s parents, said, “We want justice for our son.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and multiple Minneapolis city council members had called for the release of the footage.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, whose team is representing Locke’s family, said in a statement, “Like the case of Breonna Taylor, the tragic killing of Amir Locke shows a pattern of no-knock warrants having deadly consequences for Black Americans.” Civil rights attorney Levy Armstrong told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Locke’s family said he had a permit for the gun, though he would not have needed one to keep a gun in his home.

During a Thursday evening press conference, Minneapolis Mayor Frey admits that the Locke “gut-wrenching” video “raises about as many questions as it answers.”

Alongside Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman, the mayor insisted that their first priority was to give Locke’s family a chance to see the video before it was released to the public.

“A family is grieving and has forever been changed,” Frey added.

According to a police report obtained by The Daily Beast, a Minneapolis SWAT team entered Locke’s home at around 6:48 a.m. The officers, who were in uniform and wearing ballistic vests and tactical gear, are seen in the video using a key to enter the apartment before announcing their presence. Approximately nine seconds after entering the apartment, officers find Locke under a blanket.

The report and video both show that Locke was armed at the time—but while the report also states that he was aiming the firearm at officers, in the video the gun does not seem to be aimed at anyone but rather held toward the side of the couch he was sitting on. The video also shows an officer firing three shows while Locke—still wrapped in a blanket—falls to the floor.

“An officer fired his duty weapon and the adult male suspect was struck. Officers immediately provided emergency aid and carried the suspect down to the lobby to meet paramedics,” the report states. “The suspect was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died.”

Huffman tried to explain the police tactics used during the raid, stating that the footage shows the barrel of the gun from under the blanket forced the officers to make a split-second decision.

The chief also admitted that Locke was not named on the warrant the officers were executing—and said it was not immediately clear whether he had any connection to the original St. Paul homicide investigation that prompted the raid.

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Pilar MelendezSenior National Reporter

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