Prosecutors Decline to Charge Police Officer Who Killed Amir Locke in No-Knock Raid

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed 22-year old Black man Amir Locke in February while executing a warrant at an apartment is walking free because there is insufficient evidence to file charges, prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday.

"Specifically, the State would be unable to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt any of the elements of Minnesota's use-of-deadly-force statute that authorizes the use of force by Officer Hanneman," the statement said.

"Nor would the State be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a criminal charge against any other officer involved in the decision-making that led to the death of Amir Locke."

Though no charges will be filed by those offices, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and County Attorney Michael Freeman said in their statement that Locke, 22, – who was sleeping when officers burst into the apartment and reached for a gun he was legally allowed to own – is still a victim.

Body camera footage released in February shows a Minneapolis Police SWAT team gaining and announcing entry into an apartment where Locke was laying on a couch before purportedly pointing a handgun in the officers’ direction. An officer in response returned fire, hitting and ultimately killing Locke.

Locke was not named in the search warrant and had no criminal record. According to his father Andre Locke, Amir was mentored by his family, which has a law enforcement background. He was startled by the officers after being woken up during the raid, and did what any reasonable person would do to protect themselves, Andre said.

The Minneapolis National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) earlier called Locke's death "Nothing but a modern-day lynching."