Protests have erupted in Minneapolis after police shot and killed a 22-year-old Black man earlier this month.
Demonstrators are demanding the Minneapolis police chief resign and that the department undergo massive reform, such as banning no-knock warrants, NPR reported.
Last week, police were investigating the killing of Otis Elder when they acquired a no-knock search warrant to enter a downtown area apartment where Mahki Speed, 17, a suspect in the case, was living.
At 7 a.m., on Feb. 2, a SWAT team entered the apartment and aggressively kicked a couch that Amir Locke was sleeping on. Police body camera footage shows, as Locke was waking up, an officer noticed that he had a gun. Nearly two seconds later, the officer opened fire fatally wounding him. The officer struck Locke twice in his chest and once on his wrist located on his right arm.
Locke was not named on the warrant or named as a suspect in the homicide case, MPRnews reported.
On Monday, police announced on Twitter that authorities had arrested Speed, who has been identified as Locke’s cousin.
Locke’s parents called the officers’ behavior reckless and unwarranted and that he was a legally registered firearm owner, who was executed by law enforcement.
According to Fox 9, Locke’s family issued a statement that read, “We can confirm that the charged teenager is Amir Locke’s cousin. His cousin was not present in Unit 701, where the no-knock warrant and Amir were both executed… We must remain focused on the fact that Amir was an innocent young man of a raid gone terribly [wrong], who is now the latest statistic and victim of the dangerous and intrusive no-knock warrant techniques that must be banned.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the fatal encounter and Attorney General Keith Ellison stated he would review the case and determine if any officers will face charges.
Ellison said in a statement, “I promise the Locke family and all Minnesotans that we will work with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to conduct a fair and thorough review of the BCA investigation and that we will be guided by the values of accountability and transparency.”
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Locke’s family stated, “If we learned anything from Breonna Taylor, it is that ‘no-knock’ warrants have deadly consequences for innocent, law-abiding Black citizens.”
Locke’s death comes after the city saw massive protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020.