Amir Locke: Executed By Police in Minnesota

“You took a good kid who was trying to make the best out of his environment, and surpass it and succeed and he was doing it, he was figuring out life, but he was doing it safely.”

In the very state where George Floyd was killed by police not long ago- another young Black man lost his life to the unskilled, hateful tactics of the local police department.

A 22 year old musician named Amir Locke was asleep on his couch, in his apartment, when police burst in, and within Nine seconds, he was dead.

Locke was not named in the warrant itself, nor was he a suspect in the case being investigated, and a lawyer for his family said that he was in the apartment staying with a cousin.

Protestors have been gathering in the streets since his death last Wednesday, demanding justice for his family and accountability and reform from the police.

In the wake of the shooting, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey put a pause on no-knock warrants in the city, but the future of the controversial policy remains unclear. Meanwhile, a review of the shooting is currently underway by the Hennepin County attorney’s office, with Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison joining in.

Attorney Ben Crump released a statement on behalf of the Locke family relating the video to the death of Breonna Taylor, who was killed during a similar no-knock warrant:

“Like the case of Breonna Taylor, the killing of Amir Locke shows a pattern of no-knock warrants having deadly consequences for Black Americans.”

We stand with Amir’s family and all those screaming out that Black Lives Matter and that police need to be reformed, defunded and heavily investigated.