We followed the death of Amir Locke in the course of a no-knock raid by the Minneapolis Police Department here (February 7), here (February 9), and here (February 11). The Minneapolis police were in search of a murder suspect sought by the St. Paul police. Locke was an innocent victim of the raid when he pulled a gun on the officers and Officer Mark Hanneman shot him three times, as can be seen in the bodycam footage released following the raid.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension conducted an investigation of the incident. This past Wednesday the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Minnesota Attorney General issued a joint report summarizing the results investigation and announced that no charges would be brought. The County Attorney’s press release links to the 44-page report and related materials.
The report arrived at the reasonable conclusion that the “circumstances are such that an objectively reasonable officer in Officer Hanneman’s position would have perceived an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm that was reasonably likely to occur, and an objectively reasonable officer would not delay in using deadly force.”
I sought to present the facts and withhold judgment until all relevant facts were in with one exception. I stand by my judgment that you can see why the Minneapolis police might have wanted a no-knock warrant and that, apart from the murder suspect himself, the culprit at the heart of the tragic chain of events leading to the death of Amir Locke is Minnesota’s pathetic criminal justice system.
As of Friday, The Minneapolis Police Department is officially prohibited from executing no-knock search warrants. The city posted a press release announcing the new policy, with details here.
The coverage of this incident by the Minnesota media has been superficial at best. There may be good tactical alternatives to no-knock warrants. If not, it would be good to know. If so, one would never know it from reading the Minnesota media. We are also left to wonder if the Biden Department of Justice will resist the temptation to insert its nose into the case. One can only hope so.
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